Henderson Moving Average Excel

089) Qual caminho você calcula uma mudança de porcentagem startribune587story367953.html Fazendo uma vantagem política de erro de matemática, Star Tribune, 12 de abril de 06 DFLer Rebecca Otto está acusando o auditor Pat Anderson, um republicano, de trabalho desleixado. Em uma coluna relatando as variações percentuais nos saldos de fundos não resgatados de 2003 a 2004, em vez de dividir a diferença pelo índice de 2003, o escritório de auditores dividiu-a pela figura de 2004. O vice-auditor Tony Sutton disse que o pesquisador que trabalhou nesse relatório cometeu um erro na fórmula na planilha. Ele se sente mal por isso. Risco: dar aos adversários políticos a oportunidade de comentar negativamente no auditor do estado. Evitar: não verifique apenas os dados, mas também as fórmulas. Conselho: Registre-se agora para a conferência EuSpRIG 2012 channelregister. co. uk20060310ogcspreadsheetsnafu O Registro (Reino Unido) Folha de planilhas do OGC 10 de março de 06 O Escritório de Comércio Governamental está culpando um erro de planilha por uma falta sobre os credenciadores para o seu novo programa de compras de catalisadores. Em uma carta aos fornecedores, eles confessaram Infelizmente, não estamos, como esperávamos, em posição de aceitar seu concurso no momento. Isso ocorre porque um erro na planilha de avaliação original foi identificado, exigindo o rescisão de todas as propostas para este projeto. Este erro foi corrigido e isso causou um pequeno número de alterações à decisão de adjudicação original. Risco: escolha imprecisa de fornecedores para grandes contratos governamentais, desafios legais, má imprensa. Evitação: revisão independente de fórmulas de pontuação de acordo com as especificações. A auditoria do governo diz que a Columbia Housing Authority deve pagar 216.352 para cobrir as despesas incorridas quando a autoridade forneceu alguns inquilinos da Seção 8 Muito espaço e alguns arrendatários muito aluguel. Eles admitiram 118.387, o montante que resultou de um erro de entrada de dados de planilha que os proprietários pagos em excesso. 086) Os dados financeiros confidenciais sai no domingo news. yahooscpress20060210capronbusunlifefinancial3 TORONTO (CP) - O lucro do quarto trimestre do mercado financeiro da Sun Life Financeiro (TSX: SLF - notícias) aumentou mais de nove por cento para 478 milhões, um dia antes do agendado Após um erro humano, a empresa ficou vulnerável a um possível vazamento. O problema centrou-se em torno do suplemento estatístico trimestral da empresa, que é regularmente fornecido à comunidade de analistas antes dos ganhos - mas com os últimos resultados trimestrais apagados. Ao fazê-lo, a planilha é convertida em um arquivo de documento. No entanto, a informação censurada poderia ser recuperada usando o software Acrobat, explicou o porta-voz Tom Reid. 08 de fevereiro de 2006 Um relatório de auditoria da agência de ônibus de San Bernardino Valleys Omnitrans encontrou deficiências a longo prazo em algumas áreas, incluindo a falta de controles internos na compra que aumenta o risco de fraude potencial e uso indevido . O software financeiro que custa à agência mais de 200.000 permanece sem uso e os contratos de manutenção do software que não podem ser cancelados permanecem em vigor. A agência, que tem um orçamento operacional de 63 milhões, atualmente faz a maior parte da contabilidade no Microsoft Excel. Um senador dos EUA comentou sobre o bom moral dos funcionários e a insatisfação generalizada com a administração geral 084) Folha de cálculo naturalmente degradável por 5M nevadadailymailstory1135458.html discrepâncias orçamentárias atribuídas ao erro do computador 6 de janeiro de 2006 A planilha do orçamento da cidade de Nevada aparentemente funcionou corretamente até algum momento no final de dezembro de 2005 quando , Disse o diretor de finanças da cidade, Ron Chandler, que desenvolveu um problema, fazendo com que o orçamento de 2006 mostre um déficit de 5 milhões no fundo de água e esgoto. Chandler disse que levaram a maior parte do dia na quarta-feira para corrigir o problema. Enquanto ele estava trabalhando nisso, ele encontrou alguns outros erros na planilha que precisava ser corrigida. Uma vez que é um PDF, ele não pode mudar, disse Chandler. Risco: atraso no processo de orçamentação da cidade, constrangimento, evitação. Alterar o rastreamento, a comparação, a validação, a publicação de um PDF da versão impressa na web. Conselho: Registre-se agora para a Conferência EuSpRIG 2012 083) Muita vergonha para este tipo de venicegondolierNewsArchive3010106tp3vn4.htm Preço mixup março abertura do lote vendas Veneza, Flórida, 01 de janeiro 2006 Um snafu na publicação no site de preços mínimos de oferta para a primeira fase do leilão de lotes abandonados do North Ports levou à confusão, já que o custo de alguns lotes, aparentemente, triplicou durante a noite. O avaliador contratado pelo condado colocou o número do lote do leilão, o número da identificação da propriedade e o valor mínimo do lance em uma planilha em ordem seqüencial e, inadvertidamente, ele não classificou a coluna do valor. Risco: perda de participação dos cidadãos no processo de licitação, alvoroço e evitação de publicidade ruim. Treinamento em operação de planilha e verificação de dados de origem antes de publicar publicamente. Conselhos: Cadastre-se agora para a Conferência EUSpRIG 2012 082) Pensou que ele tinha habilidades para fabricar dados. Os artigos publicados em www. agebook. auarticles200511091131407702080.html A planilha Dud ameaça o caso Por Leonie Wood 10 de novembro de 2005 A MULTIMILLION-DOLLAR O caso de fixação de preços da gasolina liderado pela Comissão Australiana de Concorrência e Consumidores no Tribunal Federal foi seriamente comprometido por admissões de que um dos seus investigadores compôs algumas provas. O ACCC está contando com uma enorme planilha que lista os preços da gasolina e os horários de mudanças de preços para corroborar evidências orais de testemunhas, incluindo algumas das operadoras de postos de gasolina, que os revendedores de combustível da Geelong trabalharam juntos para elevar os preços em 1999 e 2000. Investigador chefe dos ACCCs Jane Edwards admitiu que, com o risco de digitar um dos meus membros da equipe, um dos investigadores havia cortado e colado placas de dados na planilha. Na época, a Sra. Edwards disse ao tribunal que o investigador estava muito entusiasmado e achou que ele tinha habilidades que não saberíamos que poderia ser útil, então ele descartou o problema de que o ACCC não tinha informações sobre os movimentos de preços em algumas datas, duplicando dados De outras datas. 081) A falta de controle de qualidade de dados dá um instantâneo negativo marketwatchnewsstory. aspguid7B276FD56F2D00CA2D42AE2DAD702DC66DF571FC777D A Kodak restabelece, acrescenta 9 milhões à perda Por Jim Jelter, MarketWatch 9 de novembro de 2005 SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) - O robusto 11 milhões de erro de separação foi atribuído a uma planilha defeituosa . O porta-voz da Kodak, Gerard Meuchner, disse que havia muitos zeros adicionados aos empregados com indenização acumulada. Mas foi uma acumulação. Nunca houve um pagamento, disse ele. Robert Brust, diretor financeiro da Kodaks, chamou de deficiência de controle interno que constitui uma fraqueza material que impactou a contabilização de reestruturações. 080) O formato de texto da célula Black-on-Black tenta ocultar dados smh. aunewsbusinesswestpac-jumps-the-gun-on-profit200511021130823280336.html Westpac foi forçado a interromper a negociação em suas ações e entregar seu briefing anual de lucro um dia antes de acidentalmente Enviou seus resultados por e-mail para analistas de pesquisa. Os detalhes do resultado recorde de 2,818 bilhões no período de 12 meses até 30 de setembro foram incorporados em um modelo de resultados dos últimos anos e foram acessíveis com manipulação menor da planilha. (Alguns relatórios indicaram que um funcionário pensou que um preenchimento de fundo de célula negra escondia texto preto.) O Sr. Chronican disse que não é apenas um erro, é uma combinação de dois ou três erros. Obviamente, estaremos conduzindo um inquérito completo para garantir que ele não aconteça novamente. 079) Quão fácil é mudar uma planilha eletrônica, como é difícil fazer o controle de versão. Namibian. na2005Octobernational05E0F49179.html O Banco Agrícola da Namíbia (Agribank) está percorrendo o limite da falência. Não há um sistema de controle sobre o qual os auditores possam confiar nem procedimentos de auditoria satisfatórios que possam ser realizados para obter uma garantia razoável de que a provisão para dívidas duvidosas é adequada e válida, anote os auditores. Os auditores descobriram que o montante do empréstimo para o agora extinto matadouro Uri Khubis mudou de N59,5 milhões em uma planilha para N50,4 milhões em outro, enquanto o total de atrasos foi reduzido de um enorme N9,8 milhões para apenas N710 000. 078) As pontuações dos exames são maltratadas por classificação incorreta nbc13news4951284detail. htmlrssbiramppspnews Os policiais aspirantes dizem que os resultados do exame foram cancelados (NBC13 8 de setembro de 2005) Alguns policiais aspirantes que fizeram um exame do governo disseram que passaram um grande teste, mas descobriram mais tarde que eles tinham Na verdade, falhou. Uma empresa nacional chamada AON administrou o teste e disse ao conselho que alguém ordenou incorretamente os resultados em uma planilha, de modo que os nomes e pontuações não coincidem, informou a NBC 13s Kathy Times. Quando eles apelaram, voltamos para a AON e pedimos que eles verificassem suas pontuações, e quando eles auditaram, eles descobriram que cometiam um erro, disse Bruce Nichols, da Jefferson County Personnel Board. Nichols renunciou. 077) Referenciar e vincular erros efile. mpsc. cis. state. mi. usefiledocs135310349.pdf Rebostar Testemunho de David J. Barch SBC Caso Michigan No. 13531.. Um menor erro de referência na planilha. Cuja correção é estimada em aproximadamente o dobro do provisionamento não recorrente TELRIC para estas UNEs. Outra mudança que o SBCM consideraria apropriado é corrigir alguns erros de link de planilha muito simples e simples (isto é, vinculando a célula da planilha errada, que estava vazia) para a porta de tronco ULS não recorrente e as desconexões da porta tronco DS1. Isto é estimado para aumentar o TELRIC mais de 30 por cento para estas duas UNE. 076) Relatórios dos auditores. Uma lista de verificação de padrões de testes e manutenção fdicig. govreports0101-025.pdf Escritório do inspetor geral (OIG) 13 de dezembro de 2001 Relatório de auditoria nº 01-025 Auditoria do modelo de teste de menor custo da Corporação Federal de Seguro de Depósitos (FDIC). Concluímos que o modelo geralmente está funcionando como pretendido. Contudo. Controles sobre acesso, desenvolvimento de software e mudanças foram fracos. Nenhum registro de que o software foi testado. Não desenvolveu um sistema para solicitar, fazer, testar e aprovar mudanças. Pouca segurança sobre macros e fórmulas (Referência: OMB Circular A-130, Apêndice III) encontrou problemas de compatibilidade A FDIC já não emprega os funcionários do DRS responsáveis ​​por projetar a planilha e ninguém possui documentação sobre como a planilha foi criada no caso de modificações São necessárias algumas das fórmulas dentro do modelo foram substituídas 075) Relatório dos auditores. Uma lista de verificação de documentação e padrões de mudança anao. gov. auWebSite. nsf01EA061E6A929D67ECA256FBF00783027OpenDocument Relatório de auditoria do auditor-geral no.38 2004-05 Auditoria de desempenho, imposto sobre bens e serviços (GST). Para calcular GMA e BBA, o Tesouro usa uma planilha do Microsoft Excel com 32 planilhas relacionadas. A planilha foi desenvolvida internamente com recursos limitados e sem considerar adequadamente as alternativas. A abordagem resultante, na visão da ANAO, não geriu adequadamente alguns riscos importantes. Difícil de navegar com o objetivo de verificar se ele está realizando cálculos corretamente. Desenvolvido em casa com recursos limitados e sem uma adequada consideração de alternativas. A ANAO não pôde localizar qualquer documentação do sistema. Nenhum dos funcionários atuais da Unidade estava lá quando a planilha foi construída. A entrada manual repetida dos mesmos dados aumenta claramente o risco de erros. Falhas na gestão dos registros que suportam os dados. Um nível de risco inaceitável que os funcionários responsáveis ​​pela atualização da planilha podem inadvertidamente acessar uma versão anterior da planilha. 074) Muitas dezenas de milhões de libras de efeito adverso telegraph. co. ukmoneymain. jhtmlxmlmoney20050630ccspread30.xmlampmenuId242ampsSheetmoney20050630ixcomcom. html Somente uma questão de tempo antes que as planilhas atinjam o fã - Telegraph (UK), 30 de junho de 2005 Em seu artigo A importância ea criticidade das planilhas Na Cidade de Londres apresentada ao Eusprig 2005, Grenville Croll da Frontline Systems (UK) Ltd. informou sobre uma pesquisa de 23 profissionais no setor de serviços financeiros da 13Bn. Os entrevistados disseram que as planilhas eram generalizadas, e muitas eram fundamentais e críticas. Não há quase nenhuma garantia de qualidade de software de planilha e as pessoas que criam ou modificam planilhas são quase totalmente autodidatas. Dois revelaram cada uma instância recente em que erro de folha de cálculo de material tinha levado a efeitos adversos envolvendo várias dezenas de milhões de libras. 073) Dois funcionários mais ou menos monroeohio. orgpdf0520Budget20Report. pdf Documento de orçamento da cidade de Monroe 2005 Os salários e os benefícios aumentaram dramaticamente em relação aos números de 2004 por dois motivos. Primeiro, calculamos mal a quantidade de salários e benefícios necessários. Isso ocorreu devido a um erro de cálculo em uma fórmula de planilha, que exclui dois funcionários do Departamento de Água do cálculo. A investigação da Comissão Federal de Regulamentação da Energia descobriu que a subsidiária da Dominion Resources Inc., com sede em Richmond, na Va, apresentou o erro, 17 de junho de 2005. Semanas de armazenamento de gás em novembro, levando a uma inflação artificial dos preços do gás natural. O processo estima que os preços ao consumidor foram aumentados entre 200 milhões e 1 bilhão. A investigação concluiu que não foi deliberada, mas quando ouço as palavras erro clerical, penso em negligência, o advogado dos arguidos, W. Coleman Allen Jr., de Richmond, Virginia, disse na sexta-feira. Os consumidores sofreram danos como se fosse intencional. Uma explicação para o erro foi que a empresa usou o mesmo nome de arquivo de computador para cada relatório de planilha de balanço de armazenamento de cada semana, facilitando o envio do erro. 071) A firma de contabilidade faz o erro da planilha AUD30M abc. net. aunewsnewsitems200506s1394937.htm Os contadores fazem o erro do AUD30M, 17 de junho de 2005 Na véspera da eleição do Território do Norte, o Partido do Partido do País foi forçado a admitir que seus custos financeiros estavam fora por dezenas de Milhões de dólares. O CLP avaliou seus custos pela empresa de contabilidade BDO. O líder do CLP, Denis Burke, diz que a empresa cometeu um erro de planilha e o Tesouro encontrou mais dinheiro em fundos de contingência com o orçamento. 070) Corte uma porcentagem, coloque uma desculpa roanokebusiness23037.html Vá a figura: o think-and-do tank flutes a matemática, 05 de maio de 2005 O Centro de Estratégias Regionais recentemente confirmou que um pesquisador errant cortar e colar de uma planilha causou um A medida do nível de nível educacional das regiões é muito pior do que é. O Centro de Estratégias Regionais, um tanque de pesquisa e revisão autodescrita, alojado em Virginia Tech, informou que um desastroso 11 por cento da população de regiões com mais de 25 anos tinha graus de bacharelado ou superior. Esse número deveria ter sido de 20%. Stuart Mease, porta-voz do Centro de Estratégias Regionais, disse que era apenas um simples erro cortar e colar, disse ele. Não sei como aconteceu, mas sim. Pedimos desculpas pelo nosso erro e queremos corrigi-lo. 069) O registro incorreto de um número é uma fraqueza material, perca sua posição de CEO biz. yahooap050329redenvelopeguidance. html. v3 29 de março de 2005 RedEnvelope corta o Outlook, compartilha queda, CFO Eric Wong renuncia em meio a erros de orçamento NEW YORK (AP) - Ações de A RedEnvelope Inc. caiu mais de 25% na terça-feira depois que o varejista online de brindes especiais reduziu drasticamente sua perspectiva do quarto trimestre e disse que seu diretor financeiro vai demitir-se em abril. A analista do grupo Stanford, Rebecca Jones Kujawa, disse em uma entrevista. . Eles estavam subestimando o custo dos bens vendidos. É provável que o diretor financeiro Eric Wong esteja sendo pressionado por causa desse erro, o que poderia demonstrar uma fraqueza material nos controles sobre relatórios financeiros, uma questão que geralmente leva a uma longa revisão das práticas contábeis. A porta-voz do RedEnvelope, Jordan Goldstein, disse que o erro de orçamento foi simplesmente devido a um número gravado em uma célula de uma planilha que depois descartou a previsão de custos e não estava relacionada com a mudança do CFO. 068) Livid porque o pesquisador não verificou entradas contra fontes de dados nzherald. co. nzindex. cfmcid1ampObjectID10008219 Brash livid over statistics mixup in speech 27 de janeiro de 2005 O líder nacional Don Brash usou um número inflado quando ele disse à reunião de Ratana na segunda-feira que quase a metade Todos os filhos maoríes dependiam de um benefício. A figura - que apareceu fortemente nas notícias do encontro maori de alto perfil - foi o resultado de um erro de cálculo pela Biblioteca Parlamentar. A estimativa deveria ter sido de 30 por cento, disse o pesquisador parlamentar David Williams, que era dono do Herald sobre cometer o erro. Ele pediu desculpas ao Dr. Brash. O Sr. Williams acreditava que o erro ocorreu quando transferiu figuras de trabalho de uma planilha do Excel. 067) Números inseridos como texto perdem escola 30.000 (US50K) do orçamento accountingweb. co. ukcgi-binitem. cgiid40301 Planilhas do Excel em Budgeting Accountingweb 5-Mar-2001 O governador da escola Peter Wolstenholme explicou como sua escola enfrentou uma queda de 30.000 porque valores em um orçamento A planilha não foi adicionada corretamente. Com a ajuda de vários gurus do AccountingWEBs, ele conseguiu identificar o problema subjacente devido a números de orçamento sendo inseridos como valores de texto alinhados à direita e não como números. Os números de texto não foram incluídos no cálculo da Soma e foram transmitidos até a submissão do orçamento das escolas. Wolstenholme reconheceu que ele geralmente obtém valores de texto que aparecem nas planilhas do Excel quando ele extrai dados do seu sistema de contabilidade usando o mecanismo ODBC. Risco: déficit orçamentário Evitação: como afirmou Paul Mitchell, membro do AccountingWEB, talvez a autoridade considere suas práticas de treinamento em TI, acrescentou Wolstenholme. A deficiência mais óbvia que pude ver foi a falta de cheques cruzados. Conselho: Registe-se agora para a Conferência EuSpRIG 2012 066) Há notícias ruins e boas notícias, principalmente ruins: US1.8M biz. yahooprnews050208cltu1081.html CECO Environmental to Restate 2000 - 2003 Financial Statements 8 de fevereiro de 2005 A equipe de contabilidade interna da CECO descobriu um erro contábil nos cálculos de planilha utilizados pelo Divisão de construção da Companhia por sua porcentagem de contabilidade de conclusão. O efeito líquido será uma redução acumulada na receita de 1.969.000 ao longo do período de quatro anos de 2000 a 2003 com um custo equivalente ao lucro líquido antes de impostos. O erro tem um efeito favorável no ano em curso, 2004, acrescentará aproximadamente 180 mil ao resultado de 2004 da CECO antes de impostos para o período de nove meses findo em 30 de setembro de 2004. Phillip DeZwirek, presidente e CEO da CECO, afirmou que nossa contabilidade interna A equipe descobriu esse erro de cálculo e informou imediatamente a nossos auditores independentes. À medida que o nosso negócio se expande, é importante saber que a nossa preparação de conformidade com Sarbanes-Oxley está funcionando. 065) Erros acontecem durante o planejamento do orçamento: US70M theunionleaderarticlesshowfast. htmlarticle50185 New Hampshire Sunday News 29 de janeiro de 2005 Equipe de orçamento do governador John Lynchs. Tem que encontrar mais 70 milhões para fazer o seu saldo orçamentário. Os números que o Departamento de Saúde e Serviços Humanos forneceram aos escritores do orçamento no outono continham um erro que contou duas vezes mais de 17 milhões de dinheiro do Medicaid em cada um dos próximos dois anos. Uma planilha detalhada que HHS deu Ways and Means na manhã de terça-feira mostrou que 35 milhões em uma categoria específica de reembolsos hospitalares viriam nos próximos dois anos. Uma segunda folha HHS produzida na terça à tarde não mostrou dinheiro na categoria, refletindo o fato de que os fundos só podem ser usados ​​de uma maneira - no hospital estadual. 064) A NASA equivocou por 644M: erros de planilha não detectados no processo ad hoc gao. govatextd04754t. txt Relatório do Escritório de Contabilidade do Governo 30 de março de 2001 spacerefnewsviewsr. htmlpid5014 Testemunho de Gregory D. Kutz, GAO GAO relatório número GAO-04-754T intitulado National Aeronautics and Administração espacial: ações importantes necessárias para lidar com problemas de gerenciamento financeiro de longa data O ano fiscal da NASA em 1999, o SBR foi mal informado por 644 milhões relatados devido, em parte, a uma má interpretação de orientação e erros no processo ad hoc da NASA para geração de informações orçamentárias. Como resultado, os locais da NASA usaram vários métodos para extrair os dados desse item de linha de seus sistemas separados e inseriram os dados em planilhas, que foram compilados pela sede da NASA. Funcionários da NASA indicaram que os erros não detectados neste processo de planilha, além da inclusão da categoria errônea de transações, também foram responsáveis ​​por uma parte da distorção SBR. De acordo com os funcionários da NASA, eles fortaleceram os controles internos sobre esse processo para o ano fiscal de 2000. Arthur Andersen não detectou o erro no SBR da NASA durante a auditoria das demonstrações financeiras do exercício de 1999. A evidência nos documentos de trabalho de Arthur Andersens relativos à compreensão e ao teste de controles internos e à validade dos dados subjacentes para os principais saldos das demonstrações financeiras não era adequada para apoiar a opinião de auditoria não qualificada de Arthur Andersens sobre o SBR e a Declaração de Financiamento para o ano fiscal de 1999. Os outros erros de aproximadamente 32 Milhões relacionados a erros nos dados da planilha podem ter tido um impacto nos PampF Schedules. 063) Cozinhando os livros com uma planilha: cerca de US 20M theindependent. co. zwnews2004DecemberFriday171307.html Fraude rocks CFX 17 de dezembro de 2004 (Zimbabwe) 115 bilhões de perda escondidas As investigações internas indicam que as contas bancárias foram projetadas por computador por um gerente de contabilidade chave. A CFX, usando o sistema bancário Equation, foi vítima dos gestores astutos que tabularam um lucro antes de impostos de quase 873 milhões em outubro, mas o software registra uma perda de cerca de 20 bilhões. A auditoria interna direciona particularmente o departamento de informações e tecnologia para ajudar o escândalo contábil criativo. Eu acredito firmemente que os ajustes observados acima são feitos em uma planilha do Excel e eles são ajustados para trás das contas de gerenciamento para o sistema Equação, ou seja, as contas de gerenciamento que mostram os resultados desejados são preparadas primeiro, então os ajustes para amarrar a Equação são feitos, O relatório diz. (Nota sobre os valores da moeda: xeuccfull. shtml relatórios que 1 USD 5,652.00 ZWD) 062) Erro de cálculo da planilha: 100.000 receitas super-optimistas 2583940,00.html SHIRLEY 1 de dezembro de 2004 - 100.000 déficits de receita Na reunião de segunda-feira 29 de novembro, o Comitê Escolar Aprovou seu orçamento atual de 7,3 milhões de dólares depois de aprender um erro de cálculo no orçamento da escola que superestimou os números da receita escolar em 100.000. A gerente de negócios, Patty Stern, disse que o dinheiro adicional de fontes de subsídio e os 167 mil aprovados para a escola na reunião especial da cidade cobrem o erro. Durante o processo de revisão do orçamento, Stern disse que um erro de cálculo foi encontrado na planilha que duplicou os números de receita em 100.000. 061) Os auditores dizem que os controles de planilhas não são suficientes. Boston Sherwood, 25 de novembro de 2004. Tweeter Entertainment Group Inc. reportou uma perda líquida mais ampla no quarto trimestre ontem, 12,5 milhões em comparação com 10,2 milhões no ano passado e um declínio de 3,5% Nas vendas em lojas abertas há mais de um ano. Para piorar as coisas, Tweeter anunciou que seu auditor, Deloitte amp Touche LLP, disse que seus controles de planilha não foram suficientes no quarto trimestre. Uma porta-voz declinou dizer o quanto em ajustes registrados a empresa fez. Tweeter disse que os erros não afetaram períodos anteriores. 060) 15 de novembro de 2004: no dia em que o ato Sarbanes-Oxley entra em vigor nos EUA biz. yahooprnews041115dam0331.html CARRIZO Oil amp Gas, Inc. Corrige cálculos de compartilhamento diluídos, 15 de novembro de 2004. A empresa descobriu recentemente um erro na Uma planilha que rastreia o número médio de warrants e opções pendentes. Este erro impactou os resultados financeiros da Carrizos. O número corrigido de ações para o período de seis meses de 2004 foi de 20,8M em vez de 18,9 milhões conforme relatado anteriormente. O lucro líquido diluído real por ação foi de 0,19 em vez de 0,21. Podemos esperar mais disso no futuro por causa dos requisitos da SarboxSOX que a administração informa sobre a avaliação dos controles internos sobre relatórios financeiros na apresentação anual. Como um CEO é relatado como dizendo, eu não fico bem em laranja. 059) Erro mútuo Tough luck. Lawzone. thelawyercgi-binitem. cgiid111862ampd205amph207ampf259 Quando é um erro, não é um erro. 1 de novembro de 2004 Em uma disputa de empréstimo, uma planilha preparada por um requerente procurou calcular o total de juros devidos no âmbito do empréstimo. Um erro não foi descoberto durante as negociações e, no devido tempo, as partes acordaram uma cifra de liquidação de 55.000 sobre a suposição mutuamente equivocada de que isso equivale a uma taxa de interesse de cerca de 45. Na verdade, 55.000 equipararam-se a uma taxa de juros de aproximadamente 33. O tribunal considerou que o erro não era culpa de nenhuma das partes e, além disso, não havia garantia quanto à planilha. Eles eram partidos comerciais e concordaram com uma quantia fixa. Ambos estavam (mutuamente) equivocados e não havia injustiça. 058) Em uma organização estudantil, os erros às vezes acontecem. Lsureveillevnewsdisplay. vART20041027417f3c7c41064 Notícia Irmãos Irmãos Pontuações inexactas LSU Daily Reveille Tue, 26 Out 2004 Um erro de cálculo em uma planilha de computador quase custou o primeiro lugar de sorologia de Chi Omega na competição Homecoming. O erro ocorreu quando a fórmula da planilha utilizada para calcular as pontuações dos eventos da Prova de Ladrão deixou dois escores fora da tabela. Eles entenderam em uma organização estudantil, os erros às vezes acontecem. Ao longo da semana, os coordenadores de Gilbert e Homecoming registraram os resultados de cada evento e mantiveram toda a documentação relacionada no caso de uma pontuação ser questionada. O Conselho Empresarial, um grupo de 125 CEOs da US, na semana passada, disse que 70% dos membros dele, o Conselho Empresarial, um grupo de 125 CEOs da US, na semana passada, disse que 70% dos membros dele. Esperava um crescimento de 2 por cento na economia dos EUA no próximo ano - pintando uma perspectiva muito mais baixa do que os principais economistas. Mas na terça-feira, o grupo disse que havia obtido a pesquisa errada e que seus membros realmente haviam projetado um crescimento econômico moderado a sólido em 2005, de 2,1 por cento para 4,5 por cento, e eram bastante otimistas quanto às perspectivas econômicas. Foi um erro computacional. A planilha mudou, então os números errados apareceram nas colunas erradas, disse Cassidy. Era apenas uma coluna na planilha. Ele disse que o erro, que foi apanhado na sexta-feira à tarde, nunca aconteceu antes na história das pesquisas. 056) Adicionando maçãs e laranjas hansard. act. gov. auhansard1998pdfs19981124.pdf ACT Hansard, 24 de novembro de 1998 Meu escritório preparou uma tabela que os dividendos de contagem dupla foram fornecidos e projetados. Foi a mais óbvia e fundamental de erros em uma planilha simples. Desejo registrar o meu arrependimento relativamente ao assunto, particularmente porque tem mais do que desfazer uma campanha de base eficaz. Eu tenho um funcionário muito contrito que de outra forma estava realizando um trabalho exemplar. Outro orador O que mostra é absolutamente nenhuma credibilidade financeira, sem capacidade, mesmo quando é tão óbvio, para descobrir qual era o problema. Mas, pior ainda, ele adicionou os dividendos em dinheiro da demonstração do fluxo de caixa aos lucros do extrato operacional. É como adicionar maçãs e laranjas. 055) Houston, temos um problema de 25.652 Fonte: ci. houston. tx. uscitygovtcontrolleraudit00-09.pdf Auditoria de Custos Diretos de Houston em toda a cidade 20 de dezembro de 1999 Finanças e Administração (FampA) foi cobrada 25.652 para o aluguel no ano fiscal de 1999 devido a uma Erro em uma fórmula de planilha eletrônica. 054) 400,000 de água sob a ponte Fonte: city. west-lafayette. in. usgovernmentminutescc050602.htm 6 de maio de 2002 O problema há alguns anos foi Purdue descobriu um erro em uma planilha usada para calcular a conta de água e essa planilha havia sido Usado por vários anos. Então, voltamos e recalculamos as contas e trouxemos isso para a atenção da Cidade e depois pagamos esse montante. Eu acredito que o valor é um pouco mais de 400.000, foi o ajuste feito naquele momento. 053) Entendendo o benefício da desagregação em 50M Fonte: comcom. govt. nztelecommunicationslluConftclreviewcba. PDF 13 Nov 2003 Uma revisão da crítica das telecomunicações da análise de custo benefício OXERA de desagregação do loop local: um erro de planilha aumenta o benefício líquido Os preços de voz também são definidos Alto devido a um erro de planilha. A correcção adiciona 26 milhões ao excedente de 180M. As referências de planilha incorretas significam que o benefício líquido da Opção 1 é subavaliado por 50M Fonte: sao. state. ut. usreports03-37.pdf 30 de junho de 2003 Revisor do Estado de Utah DEPARTAMENTO DE RECURSOS NATURAIS ENCONTRO E RECOMENDAÇÃO 1 TAXA DE CUSTOS INDIRECTOS CÁLCULOS INCORRECTAMENTE (Reportable Condição) Observamos os seguintes erros ao testar a taxa de custo indireto do ano fiscal de 2003 para a Divisão de Recursos de Vida Selvagem: a. A planilha eletrônica de custo indireto para salários e benefícios diretos do Gerenciamento de Habitat, intitulado Método de formulário curto, possui uma célula que foi vinculada a uma planilha incorreta. Isso resultou em um excesso da base de custo direto em mais de 2 milhões. 051) Assista a sua digitação. Literalmente. Fonte: catless. ncl. ac. ukRisks21.94.html Ainda outro caso de um programa que altera sua entrada. Risks Digest 10 de março de 2002 Eu estava entrando em notas em uma planilha do Excel e percebi que, embora nas minhas notas eu tivesse uma mistura de As and As , A planilha havia mudado todas as notas A para As. Por que eu estava entrando em notas olhando minhas notas e não a tela. Então eu digitei A - seguido por ENTER, então A, em que ponto o Excel sugeriu A - como uma entrada possível. Sem olhar, pressione ENTER, entrando assim em A, em vez de A. Isso só funciona se a entrada mais longa precede o menor na lista original (ou seja, a lista da qual você está digitando), pois se houver ambigüidade sobre a sugestão, o Excel fecha . 050) A perda silenciosa de 19,130 ​​Fonte: catless. ncl. ac. ukRisks20.30.htmlsubj10 Risks Digest 16 de abril de 1999 De: Ben Bederson Assunto: O caráter espacial em número causa erro silencioso Excel Erro de US19,130 ​​Eu tinha justificado especificamente A coluna em questão anteriormente. A questão aqui é que o 19, 130 foi interpretado pelo Excel como texto e não como um número. Uma vez que o Excel não gera avisos ao adicionar texto, mas sim o interpreta como 0, não tive notificação do problema. 049) Violation of regulatory reporting by 105,000 Source: fcc. govBureausCommonCarrierOrders1995fcc95075.txt March 3, 1995 NYNEX Telephone Operating Companies, FCC 95-75 Before the FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION 34. Apparent Violation No. 15: The independent auditor found that NET overstated its CL revenues for January through November 1988. NET stated that an erroneous spreadsheet caused this overstatement. The independent auditor stated that this error understated NETs CL and total interstate revenue requirements for those months by 105,000. Source: bcen. bc. cabcerartVol10acleaner. htm A Cleaner Future for BCs Polluting Pulp Mills by Peter Ronald, campaign coordinator, Georgia Strait Alliance 2001 in November it was revealed that this mill (formerly owned by MacMillan Bloedel) has been under-reporting its Total Reduced Sulphur (TRS) emissions by 32-times for the past 14 years This miscalculation was embedded in a spreadsheet formula uncovered during an internal audit. Please accept my sincere apologies for the percentage error in Table 2 you correctly identified in your letter. The figure should be 5 per cent and not 13 per cent (a mistake in the spreadsheet used in calculations). The previous version of Table 2 did have a number rounding-up anomalies, and miscalculation in providing percentage figures. These were the result of problems in the spreadsheet and, in the case of the 1998-99 London Exclusion Total a simple typographical error. We at OMB and, as Administrator Alvarez will testify, SBA believe that it is an extremely serious matter and are taking steps to correct it. I accept the findings of SBAs Inspector General that both SBA and OMB share responsibility for the problem. The error in the calculation of the FY 1997 7(a) loan subsidy estimate discovered by GAO was an incorrect reference formula in one cell of a summary spreadsheet. 045) Carelessness can cost jobs Source: thepolypoststory. phpstory648 The Poly Post August 18th, 2004 Miscalculation Found in Budget As recently as two weeks ago, Childrens Center staff were concerned that the facility would close as early as next quarter. Hoffman said a spreadsheet error and an overestimation in staff salary brought the budget down by 50 percent. 044) USAID Audit shows agencies needing aid for controls Source: usaid. govoigpublicfy03rpts7-685-03-003-p. pdf Audit of USAIDSenegals Casamance Conflict Resolution Program 7-685-03-003-P May 30, 2003 Enterprise Works provided self-created spreadsheets to support the results reported to the Mission for two selected indicators. However, they could not provide any original documentation to support the figures in the spreadsheets. CRS could not provide support for the data reported in their spreadsheet for the first selected indicator, number of jobs created. Furthermore, the spreadsheet was mathematically incorrect. even though the Mission has in place procedures for periodically checking data, these procedures were not fully implemented a lack of periodic checks of the data also contributed to the problem. 043) Legislative Auditor finds 58M optimism in DPS Source: lla. state. la. usperformdps02.pdf Department of Public Service January 2002 Audit Control 02500734 Two significant audit findings. We found numerous errors in the mathematical computations. In addition, the review controls are weak. The department reported a value of 184.5 million for the key performance indicator Direct savings to ratepayers. We determined that this value should have been 126.5 million therefore, the first quarter value reported was overstated by almost 58 million, or 45.8. This miscalculation was due to a spreadsheet formula error. The department computes many of its performance indicator values using manual calculations. This situation increases the chance of human error in performing the calculations. The department should increase its use of electronic spreadsheet andor database programs to perform calculations.() 042) Uncleared carryforward. 10,395 Source: mcallnewslocalall-b34basdaug10,0,2437486.storycollall-newslocal-hed Morning Call Aug 10, 2004 An audit found that the state gave the district 10,395 more than entitled because the number of pupils transported for the 2001-02 school year was overstated by 27 to the Department of Education. Stanley Majewski, Bethlehem Areas director of business affairs, said the overpayment was the result of a simple clerical error. Our transportation director didnt clear out the previous years private school riders from our spreadsheet. We didnt realize it until the auditors pointed it out to us. More: njnewsexpresstimespaindex. ssfbasenews-12109213236859950.xml 041) Clerical error. tens of thousands of dollars City officials miscalculated the amount of sales taxes generated at Stony Point Fashion Park during the first couple of months of operation. The mistake inadvertently inflated the figures by tens of thousands of dollars, which, in turn, meant the total sales estimate was overblown by millions of dollars. It was a clerical error. There was no intention to mislead anyone, said Andrew T. Rountree, the citys finance director. The city blamed the mistake primarily on an error in a spreadsheet formula, which amplified a subtotal amount. 040) 5M actuarial overstatement Source: ir. jameshardie. aurepositoriesfilesNEWS.2004.KPMGACTURIALREVIEW. pdf James Hardie Actuarial Expert Witness Report, KPMG Actuaries Pty Ltd 4 June 2004 Over the years 1996-2001, James Hardie Industries Ltd (James Hardie) received advice from Trowbridge Consulting, the actuarial subsidiary of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu (Trowbridge), in relation to the level of asbestos liabilities to which it was potentially exposed. There are some errors in the report and the valuation model. Most notably, the insurance recoveries have been over-discounted due to spreadsheet errors (this had been corrected by the 13 February 2001 valuation). This has resulted in a 5m overstatement in the liability Trowbridge have recommended relative to that which they ought to have recommended on their valuation basis. 039) Automatic conversion features of Excel munge data Source: biomedcentral1471-2105580 Mistaken Identifiers: Gene name errors can be introduced inadvertently when using Excel in bioinformatics. Barry R Zeeberg et al. BMC Bioinformatics, June 2004 When processing microarray data sets, they noticed that some gene names were being changed inadvertently to non-gene names. For example, the text SEPT2 was converted to a date. The problem was default date format conversions and floating-point format conversions in Excel. The date conversions affect at least 30 gene names the floating-point conversions affect at least 2,000 if Riken identifiers are included. These conversions are irreversible the original gene names cannot be recovered. Risk: Misinterpretation of genetic research results Avoidance: Awareness of Excel limitations, helpful automatic features, bugs, and workarounds Advice: Register Now for the EuSpRIG 2012 Conference 038) Environmental toxic waste miscalculation Source: envirogroupJE20Spreadsheet20Model20Error. pdf Technical Memorandum Superfund JE Model Spreadsheet Error By Eric Wannamaker, EnviroGroup Ltd July 2004 A bad VLOOKUP was discovered in one of the cells of the US EPA Superfund spreadsheet used to determine the dispersal of the toxic wastes through ground water. This is how the EPA determines which toxic waste sites to clean up first. The impact of the JE model error is highly case specific, depending on site characteristics, regulatory goals, and local geology. The quantitative impact of the error is a difference in indoor air concentration estimate ranging from 0 to 200. The cost of this misestimate would depend on how it is used in the overall site assessment process. Source: solutionmatrixnewsletter41.html CostBenefit Newsletter June 2004 We just lost our negotiating room - the pitfalls of Excel. I found at the last minute that some very long spreadsheet formulas had parentheses out of place. When I put them where they belonged, our projected gains fell from 200M to 25M. Gives two Excel formulas for estimating salary and overhead costs in Year 2 of a multi-year analysis period - see if you can spot the error. Source: newportnewstimesarticles20040528newsnews12.txt Newport News Times OR, USA May 28, 2004 LINCOM nears budget resolution She had intended to move only the proposed figure for the coming fiscal year. But when she made the change, the spreadsheet program moved the line for the lease, not just for the proposed 2004-05 year, but also the figures for the adopted 2003-04 figure, the actual 2002-03 year, and the two previous fiscal years actual expenditures for the lease. Further, the bottom line totals for Materials and Services in the columns for each of those fiscal years (for things like training, insurance, phones, and the lease) were visibly incorrect. 035) Profiting from mispricing . we take relatively big positions in companies that we believe are temporarily under or over-priced and where we expect that mis-pricing to be sorted out quickly. By way of example, in November last year we bought ScS Upholstery (a specialist sofa retailer) at 172p after it warned on profits. A spreadsheet error had caused the wrong cost to be input into the system, with the result that their gross margin had slipped without management knowing. We knew that this would quickly be rectified, and sure enough the share price bounced back rapidly. 034) Spreadsheet typo loses Toledo U. 2.4M University of Toledo loses 2.4M in projected revenue. While official UT projections call for a 10 percent decline in graduate student enrollment, an increase mistakenly was shown in a spreadsheet formula that led officials to overestimate enrollment and therefore revenue, Mr. Decatur said. Dr. Johnson said no job action will be taken against the employee who made the mistake, who has a good performance record. Officials will, however, pursue systemic changes to provide more safeguards in the future. We have very competent people, Dr. Johnson said. I do think that the continuing fiscal pressures on universities have forced us to a level of staff support where there is little or no redundance in the process. 033) Spreadsheet macros in the 1994 SA election: amateurish shambles Source: mg. co. zaContentl3.aspao34102 Globe and Mail, South Africa, 14 April 2004 Long before the results of 1994s election were finally announced, the results control centre (RCC) responsible for tabulating ballots had collapsed. The reason for its closing -- given by the transitional IECs chairperson, Judge Johann Kriegler -- was that a hacker had breached its counting centres security and tampered with the results. According to volunteers who worked as data entry clerks at the RCC, the chance of there ever having been a hacker is unlikely. The errors Kriegler blamed on a hacker appear to have been caused by bugs in spreadsheet macros and typos from moving data from fax to computer. Risk : widespread suspicion that the final election results werent calculated by counting the votes people cast after patiently queuing for hours in the sun, but by letting political parties do backroom horse-trading. Avoidance . Actually testing the system Advice: Register Now for the EuSpRIG 2012 Conference 032) Investigators made mistakes Source: newsdaynewsprinteditionlongislandny-likrol283726003mar28,0,5128077.storycollny-linews-print March 28, 2004 The town of Brookhaven paid 2,400-employee Kroll 2.2M to look for possible corruption in the Highway Department, But at the resulting trial, investigators have been caught red-faced by revelations that they went to an incorrect address and exaggerated financial figures because of typos. two numbers were transposed on a spreadsheet, and Kroll said Milvid overbilled by 18,000 for concrete work on Boyle Road in Port Jefferson Station when he had actually overbilled by less than 3,000. Risk : Maybe losing a court case Avoidance . As reported: Defense attorneys were incredulous that Kroll wouldnt double-check the largest item on its list of alleged overbillings Advice: Register Now for the EuSpRIG 2012 Conference 031) Many a slip between spreadsheet and pulp Source: gmtodaynewspoliticsstatetopstory141.asp March 17, 2004 Boxes of former Gov. Tommy Thompsons records meant for the Wisconsin Historical Society archives, were inadvertently put on the wrong truck and sent to a Green Bay paper mill, where they were turned into pulp. Administration Deputy Secretary Laura Engan said someone incorrectly manipulated a spreadsheet listing records that could be destroyed and records that should be retained. We basically identified a problem. There was a very significant human error. It wont happen again. Período. Source: madisonwisconsinstatejournallocal75815.php (June 05,2004) No suspicious activity could be found, the DOA reported, adding they did find that the supervisor who botched the spreadsheet transfer had a record that consistently suggested a lack of proficiency with the software used to manage the database. Previously, The archivists would put a red sticker on the boxes to be destroyed, and a green sticker on the boxes to be saved. That backup visual system was discontinued last February, because there are fewer boxes saved these days and because it took a lot of staff time. Risk : Loss of irreplaceable historical records Avoidance . As reported, Laura Engan said Because of the incident, the agency plans to create a records report that requires no human manipulation Advice: Register Now for the EuSpRIG 2012 Conference 030) Spreadsheet slips on a banana Banana Growers furious with Australias quarantine watchdog over a draft report clearing the way for banana imports from the Philippines want it to hand over its computer models so they can check them. Mary Harwood, Executive Manager of Biosecurity Australia, said What it shows is that a simple human error was made in an electronic spreadsheet that was found in an easy way by a person looking at it. The Australian Government Department of Agriculture report says: Several stakeholders have requested a copy of the electronic spreadsheet that is used with risk modelling software called RISK in the banana IRA. The spreadsheet will be loaded onto Biosecurity Australias website when the addendum to the revised draft IRA report is released. Risk : Loss of trust Avoidance . As said by Ron Boswell: I would have thought that as a matter that was as important as this, that it would be the transcription would have been checked and checked again Advice: Register Now for the EuSpRIG 2012 Conference 029) Extracts from FDA Inspectional Observations and Warning Letters Failure to have an adequate validation procedure for computerized spreadsheets used for in-process and finished product analytical calculations. SOP 644.00, QAQC Spreadsheet Validation, is deficient in that only a small range of values are being used to challenge computerized spreadsheet mathematical calculations. Failure to use fully validated computer spreadsheets to calculate analytical results for in-process and finished product testing 21 CFR 211.165(e). Failure to validate computer software used as part of the quality system for its intended use according to an established protocol as required by 21 CFR 820.70(i). Risk . non-compliance with regulations, fines, penalties, wasted management time Avoidance . Know that end-user developed applications are not exempt from regulation Advice: Register Now for the EuSpRIG 2012 Conference 028) Shurgard stock dives after auditor quits over companys accounting Shares of the Seattle self-storage company fell 7.1 percent after Shurgard disclosed that Deloitte and Touche quit upon learning Shurgard overpaid its chief executive and another investor 700,000 each and took more than six months to find and correct the error. Shurgard said the overpayment occurred when the company bought out a limited partnership owned by Chief Executive Charles Barbo and another investor. A person in Shurgards accounting department used the wrong spreadsheet to figure out what the two were due, spokesman Jeff Szorik said. The payment was discovered and repaid six months later. 027) Spreadsheet glitch scrambles city election tally November 8, 2003 Albuquerque Tribune, NM Source: abqtribarchivesnews03110803newscanvass. shtml City Clerk Judy Chavez on Friday released new vote counts from the recent city bond elections correcting totals for six of the 10 bond questions. In one case, the count was off by more than 11,000 votes. She is reported as saying A clerk happened to compare the print-out from an old-fashioned adding machine to the print-out of the computer spreadsheet and noticed discrepancies. Individual, precinct-by-precinct numbers were accurate. The inaccuracies were in some of the bottom-line totals. A programming error in the citys computer spreadsheet caused the problem but it has been corrected. 026) NYSE fines local trader 475,000 November 01, 2003 The Grand Rapids Press Source: mlivenewsgrpressindex. ssfbasenews-111067685394184490.xml A well-known Grand Rapids investment managers alleged mishandling of stock orders has led to 475,000 in fines by the New York Stock Exchange and censures for him and two other employees involved in the orders. The stock exchange said Cusack, 47, bought large blocks of Foremost stock in September and October of 1999, but didnt properly document which of his clients would have the stock placed in their accounts. The lack of documentation raised the possibility that he could wait to decide how to distribute the shares until he knew how the shares performed that day -- a violation of NYSE rules and Securities and Exchange Commission laws. Cusack told the stock exchange he had a spreadsheet that spelled out how the stock would be distributed when the orders were placed, but the spreadsheet was thrown away after the transactions and other documentation were completed. 025) Errors and omissions excepted: 3.7M An agency may permit correction of a bid where clear and convincing evidence establishes both the existence of a mistake and the bid actually intended. Our review of the record, including Emersons computer-generated spreadsheets, confirms that the price at spreadsheet cell number D159 (for electrical work) was not included in the subtotal at cell number D160. Based on the format of the spreadsheet, it is clear that the 3,702,025 price at cell number D159 was intended to be included in the firms subtotal price. Also at: pubklawrdgao2003B-2925552.html 024) Computational error in performing complicated calculations October 2003, Yahoo news Source: biz. yahooprnews031030dcth0181.html Fannie Mae filed a Form 8-KA with the SEC amending their third quarter press release to correct computational errors in that release. There were honest mistakes made in a spreadsheet used in the implementation of a new accounting standard. The bottom line is that the correction has no impact on our income statement, but resulted in increases to unrealized gains on securities, accumulated other comprehensive income, and total shareholder equity (of 1.279 billion, 1.136 billion, and 1.136 billion, respectively). the correction had to do with a computational error in performing complicated calculations required in the implementation of FAS 149. 023) Somebody actually checked a spreadsheet October 2003, The Tennessean Source: tennesseaneducationarchives031041323597.shtmlElementID41323597 Education Networks of America (ENA) operates the Internet network connecting schools across Tennessee. ENA twice won multimillion-dollar state contracts with bids that appeared higher than others. Jacqueline Shrago, who was the Education Departments project manager, said the ISIS 2000 bid appeared cheaper until costs for all three and a half years were computed. Looking more closely, it appeared that ISIS had made an error on a spreadsheet and that the bid actually was higher than ENAs, she said. We asked questions in the protest period, and they would not give an answer, Shrago said. She said ISIS never explained, either, to federal agencies, which fund a large part of the schools computer system. So ENA got the contract. 022) Spreadsheet variance at MCI Oct. 10, 2003 Telecommunications News PRNEWSWIRE Source: prnewswirecgi-binstories. plACCTSVBIZINK1.storyampSTORYwwwstory10-09-20030002033002ampEDATETHUOct092003,12:28PM Watchdog Calls for Further Investigation of MCI The August 2003 Department of Defense IG report states, . many of the invoice amounts listed on the MCIWorldCom spreadsheet were inaccurate. Specifically, 467 invoices on the MCIWorldCom spreadsheet differed from the hard copy invoices by 2.1 million. Last month, The New York Post reported a former MCI employees claim about over-billing at the State Department: It was wrong and I regret it. We were over-billing the government 20,000 a month on one circuit. The order to overcharge came down from a vice president and through three layers of management. 021) Excel-COBOL transfer loses voter data Source: ddtonlinearticles20031008newsnews2.txt October 2003, Delta Democrat Times The city has a three-step process for elections: The first part was getting the voting books from the county and checking them. After that step was completed, the names were added to an Excel spreadsheet in the citys computer. The information from Excel had to be entered into another database, COBOL. Apparently what happened is that when the rolls were printed, all the information did not get transferred, Alexander said. Entire neighborhoods were left off of the voter rolls. 020) 12M Error inflates school impact fees in Florida September 12, 2003 Orlando Sentinel Assistant County Manager Cindy Hall, in a memo to commissioners on Thursday, wrote that the April 22 study by Henderson Young amp Co. duplicated the cost of building a new elementary school. The extra 12 million cost was corrected on a spreadsheet in the study, but it wasnt later adjusted on the total cost of school projects for the next five years. Jim Drake, director of finance for Lake County Public Schools, said: It was basically a simple spreadsheet error. But obviously its going to have an impact on building new facilities. County Commissioner Jennifer Hill said the consultant was given the final numbers for its study from the School Board only a few months before the studys completion, It was rush, rush, rush, she said. Hill called the mistake a simple mathematical error. Aug. 27, 2003 Kansas City Source: kansascitymldkansascitybusiness6632965.htm Two ex-HealthSouth executives plead guilty to conspiracy, fraud (Associated Press) Earnings were overstated by at least 3.5 billion. This investigation is not about a mere accounting fraud, but rather a business scheme to fraudulently boost HealthSouths reported earnings, said U. S. Attorney Alice Martin in a statement. Brown pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit securities fraud. He admitted preparing a false spreadsheet for auditors that inflated HealthSouths assets and made the company appear to be worth more that it was. 018) 24-million spreadsheet clerical error Source: theregister. co. ukcontent6731298.html June 03, 2003 TORONTO (Reuters) - TransAlta Corp. said on Tuesday it will take a 24 million charge to earnings after a bidding snafu landed it more U. S. power transmission hedging contracts than it bargained for, at higher prices than it wanted to pay. . the companys computer spreadsheet contained mismatched bids for the contracts, it said. It was literally a cut-and-paste error in an Excel spreadsheet that we did not detect when we did our final sorting and ranking bids prior to submission, TransAlta chief executive Steve Snyder said in a conference call. I am clearly disappointed over this event. The important thing is to learn from it, which weve done. As New York ISO rules did not allow for a reversal of the bids, the contracts went ahead. Also at siliconrepublicsrep. iclogin. htmlstoryidsingle1576 017) Economic Testimony - The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly There are times in which the economic expert is either unprepared or led into difficult positions. Likewise, there are times in which the cross examination opens the door for further damaging economic testimony. Over the years, we have compiled a list of some of the goofs and some of the successes among economic experts we have observed. . What spreadsheet During trial the plaintiffs attorney during cross examination focused upon the computer spreadsheet used by the defenses economic expert to allegedly prove that there were zero economic damages. The expert had relied heavily upon research assistants to construct the spreadsheet, but under the experts supervision. Unfortunately, the expert had not carefully examined the calculations and was not aware of several calculation errors. The spreadsheet was blown up as a trial exhibit, along with an alternate spreadsheet with corrected figures. The experts testimony at trial was inconsistent with the corrected spreadsheet. The expert was forced to acknowledge to the court the calculation error, and tried to explain it was not a serious one. Yet it was too late. The jury lost confidence in the testimony. The jury awarded the plaintiff more than 12 million in damages. Did you copy all the way down A plaintiffs economic expert was claiming that damages were to accrue over an extended period of time due to a permanently damaged reputation. Due to an incorrect use of a copy command in the spreadsheet, the lost profits after the tenth year of the projection became discontinuous, abruptly decreasing in one month, then following a smooth trend upward though the remainder of the time horizon. The economist had revised the spreadsheet, but failed to copy the revision down all cells, stopping after ten years. The remainder of the projection used the unrevised formula which abruptly took the profits into the negative regions. Since the profits were projected for a surgeon, it made little economic sense that a surgeon would continue practicing for several years with a negative income. Upon questioning in the deposition, the expert could not quickly figure out the reason for the questions and admitted that, if the projection showed it, it was quite possible for profits to be negative for short periods of time. Problems and inconsistencies could have been detected by the expert by simply graphing the result. However, the expert chose not to admit the possibility of a mistake in a deposition and provided damaging testimony instead. financeDOC20Mgt20Ltr. pdf Dec 27, 2002 During our FY 2002 audit of the Departments consolidated financial statements, we noted certain matters involving internal control over financial reporting and its operation that we consider to be reportable conditions under standards established by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants The amount recorded as a grant accrual in CAMS disagreed with the grant accrual spreadsheet, resulting in a 1.5 million understatement of grant accruals. This difference occurred because of an error in the spreadsheet formula. August 12, 2002 - in a regulated industry, the process is as important as the product: Source: tis. eh. doe. govenforceeasEA-2002-03WS. pdf Preliminary Notice of Violation and Proposed Imposition of Civil Penalty 137,500. quality assurance issues affecting nuclear safety surrounding the discrepant nondestructive assay (NDA) data provided to Bechtel Hanford, Inc. in support of their decontamination and dismantlement activities at Building . Contrary to the above, between September 1998 and May 2001, work was not performed to established standards and controls using approved procedures. Examples include the following . the modification to the spreadsheet was not subjected to validation . the revisions to the spreadsheet used in the NDA process were not uniquely identified and labeled . several deficiencies related to the use of NDA applicable spreadsheets 014) IRR or XIRR - periodic or not Users often fail to realise the implication of Spreadsheets they develop. There is no third party independently testing whether these sheets work correctly. In course of time, they get used unquestioningly with nobody cross checking the validity of calculations. Weve never come across a company validating software embedded in Spreadsheets. To illustrate, heres a case we encountered with a corporate that was showing its procedures to be supported by well-documented Spreadsheets. Taking a deeper look at their sheets, we were surprised to find them using a wrong function for IRR calculation (Tip: There are 2 Excel IRR functions IRR() and XIRR(). XIRR() handles non-periodic cashflows while IRR() can handle only periodic cash flows). Over the last couple of years, the top management has been looking at reports with this wrong computation. We cant imagine what decisions were made using these numbers. 013) Debating association out of sorts 2002: Australasian intervarsity debating association The major error in the tabulation was introduced sometime after the draw for round two was announced, but before results from round two had begun to be entered into the tab spreadsheet. The data in the spreadsheet was re-sorted, so that the teams were listed alphabetically, but, mistakenly, not all columns were sorted. ArchiveNutrition20software20summary20(9).PDF End-2002, Anny Dentener reviewed several nutrition software packages for their suitability to provide information needed under the new ANZFA nutrition panel requirements. She says Overall, spreadsheets are cheap to run but can be time-consuming and error prone. A typical spreadsheet error spotted was for instance a burger chain understating energy from fat exactly by the factor difference between a large fries, and 100 gram 2002: Audit Of The Colorado Student Loan Programs Establishment And Use Of Federal And Operating Funds CSLP made an error in calculating the amount needed to establish the Operating Fund. We found a 36,131 transfer to the Operating Fund that was not supported. CSLP explained that it had made an error on the spreadsheet CSLP used to calculate the beginning balance of the Operating Fund. A formula in the spreadsheet picked-up the date, 120298, and interpreted it as a dollar amount, resulting in an error of 36,131. As a result, the beginning balance of the Federal Fund was understated by 36,131. We calculated that CSLP owed the Federal Fund an additional 8,884 in imputed interest on this amount calculated through March 31, 2002. Not correcting such an error would be inconsistent with sound business practices, as required by 34 CFR (a)(11)(iii)(B). We recommend that the COO for FSA require CSLP to Reimburse the Federal Fund for the remaining 1,172 in imputed interest on the spreadsheet error calculated through March 31, 2002. AUDIT SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE LEGISLATIVE COMMISSION January 17, 2002 Department of Motor Vehicles and Public Safety, Administrative Services Division ASD did not have current policies and procedures to help ensure revenue distributions were correct, and controls over supervision also need strengthening. Spreadsheets used to distribute tax revenue to the States General Fund contained a formula error. Consequently, from October 1999 through May 2001, approximately 9.5 million in sales tax revenue was not distributed to the General Fund. Although this spreadsheet error was corrected in June 2001 and the 9.5 million was transferred to the General Fund, internal controls are still weak. Consequently, further spreadsheet errors could occur and go undetected. 009) Accounting error forces bank to 3b write-down Source: abc. net. aupms357092.htm PM Archive - Monday, 3 September, 2001 The National Australia Bank wrote down the value of its US mortgage business HomeSide Lending by a massive AUS3 billion. The news triggered a free fall in the NABs share price that knocked more than 6.5 billion of the banks market value. Contributing to the write down was an incorrect interest rate assumption fed into HomeSides financial modelling. This alone has cost the lenders 755 million. A selling spree knocked more than 13 per cent of the value of NAB shares. 008) The role of spreadsheets in the AIBAllfirst currency trading fraud cd02eusprig2001AIBSpreadsheets. htm 2001 Allfirst Would not pay the US 10,000 for a direct data feed from Reuters to the risk control section. Instead, they got Rusnak to download his Reuters feed into a spreadsheet. He then substituted links to his private manipulated spreadsheet. The total losses hidden by the fraud were almost US700M. Rusnak exaggerated bonuses by over half a million dollars. Ray Butler points out in the article above that One error in a spreadsheet will subvert all the controls in all the systems feeding into it. An auditing tool (SpACE) would have found the external links in the key spreadsheet. 007) Using a spreadsheet to catch a spreadsheet error Source: irlgov. iecommittees-00c-publicaccounts000926page2.htm September 2000: An extract from the proceedings of the Public Accounts committee in Ireland: The second error was discovered during the process . of preparing the councils defence against the claim made by SIAC in the initial tender assessment. The bills of quantities and the rates were inserted at that stage on a spreadsheet for the purpose of putting them in electronic form and checking them. The error showed up during that process many months later. Section 05 - drainage and service ducts - the 42,000 should have been carried forward but someone misread it as a title head as distinct from being a summary of another page. It was as simple and unbelievable as that, but that is what happened. As the county engineer has reminded me, it happened in two tenders and it was not seen by us in the checking process. Acting Chairman. If we accept that there will always be errors in tenders and, in this instance, that human error has cost the Exchequer so much money, it is obvious that change is needed, particularly in view of the fact that a compensation culture has come into existence. Source: oig. hhs. govoasreportsregion440202016.pdf Spreadsheet Errors The FY 1999 MedicareMedicaid crossover log contained calculation errors, resulting in the log being overstated by 38,240. The hospital recorded the Medicare bad debts for patients who also qualified for Medicaid on an electronic spreadsheet. Each month the spreadsheet was updated with additional MedicareMedicaid crossover patients. The spreadsheet contained a summation function, allowing various cells to be added to compute a total. The hospital inadvertently included some cells in a subtotal and also added them a second time in the grand total. In addition, the hospital inadvertently omitted one subtotal from the grand total. These errors resulted in the summary totals being overstated. 005) Strict liability means no excuses 1999: Respondent explains that many of the violations alleged were the result of mistakes in formulas used to calculated materials usage and emission rates. Respondent states that it is prepared to demonstrate at hearing that these formulas were in a typical spreadsheet format, that once these formulas are developed, they are opaque to the users of the spreadsheets, and that during the time the error persisted, Vemco did not know or have reason to know that it was violating its permit requirements. Discussion With strict liability, factors of intent, good faith, willfulness or fault are not relevant to a finding of liability for violations. Therefore, Respondents arguments that it intended to comply, did not know of the violations, and made an innocent mistake are not defenses to liability. These arguments, and the assertion that errors in calculating emissions were discovered, reported and corrected by Respondent, may be relevant to assessment of a penalty, but are not relevant to the issue of liability. 004) 100 million here or there. CANADIAN ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION ACT, 1999 Estimated Incremental Capital and Operating Costs, 2002 to 2016 The total cost number and its present discounted value are about 100 million less than the original estimates pre-published in the Canada Gazette, Part I. This difference is the result of a spreadsheet mistake that was detected at the time the 1999 estimates were updated. Source: lims. tarateclims199806msg00048.html June 1998 LIMSList - Spreadsheet blues From my perspective as a NAMAS assessor (ISO Guide 25) and working in the pharmaceutical induistry I think that speadsheets are the highest risk of any application. When you read on you will see why. A pharamceutical quality control laboratory used an Excel sporeadsheet to calculate the percentage dissolution from tablets. To improve efficiency the Excel guru (should that be gnu) programmed a macro. The whole data supporting a product licence application was calculated with this macro. The package was submitted. Then somebody had a good idea: should we validate the macro To cut the story short, there was a problem with the macro and there was a gross error in the calculation: some batches that were in were now out of specification. The 277 page report that was prepared to explain this fiasco delayed the approval by several months. Calculate the cost of an average drug sale at 1 million per week or more (V1gr excepted) and you have the approximate cost of the error. Risk: non-compliance with regulations, fines, penalties, wasted management time Avoidance: check all the work including the hidden features like VBA code Advice: Register Now for the EuSpRIG 2012 Conference 002) The missing minus sign Source: catless. ncl. ac. ukRisks16.72.html Jan. 1995: Computing error at Fidelitys Magellan fund There was a big flap recently over Fidelitys Magellan fund estimating in November that they would make a 4.32share distribution at the end of year, and then not doing so. A letter of explanation was sent to the shareholders (including me) from J. Gary Burkhead, the President of Fidelity, including the following pertinent items: During the estimating process, a tax accountant is required to transcribe the net realized gain or loss from the funds financial records (which were correct at all times) to a separate spreadsheet, where additional calculations are performed. The error occurred when the accountant omitted the minus sign on a net capital loss of 1.3 billion and incorrectly treated it as a net capital gain on this separate spreadsheet. This meant that the dividend estimate spreadsheet was off by 2.6 billion. 001) Archive of case studies 1984-1995 Reports of Spreadsheet Errors in Practice Business Week How Personal Computers Can Trip Up Executives, (2861) September 24, 1984, pp. 94-102 passim. Creeth, R. Microcomputer Spreadsheets: Their Uses and Abuses, Journal of Accountancy (159:6) June 1985, pp. 90-93. Dhebar, A. Managing the Quality of Quantitative Analysis, Sloan Management Review (34:2) Winter 1993, pp. 69-75. Ditlea, S. Spreadsheets Can be Hazardous to Your Health, Personal Computing (11:1) January 1987, pp. 60-69. Gilman, H. amp Bulkeley, W. Can Software Firms be Held Responsible When a Program Makes a Costly Error Wall Street Journal (CCVII:24) August 4, 1986, p. 17. Freeman, R. M. A Slip of the Chip on Computer Spread Sheets can Cost Millions, The Wall Street Journal, August 4, 1984. Hayen, R. L. amp Peters, R. M. How to Ensure Spreadsheet Integrity, Management Accounting (60:9) April 1989, pp. 30-33. Savitz, E. J. Magellan Loses its Compass, Barrons (84:50) December 12, 1994. Simkin, M. G. Micros in Accounting: How to Validate Spreadsheets, Journal of Accountancy (164:5) November 1987, pp. 130-138 passim. Slade, R. Is it Getting too Easy The Risks Digest (13:45) catless. ncl. ac. ukRisks, April 28, 1992. Woodbury, G. G. Re: Computer Error in Durham N. C. Election Results, The Risks Digest (9:42) catless. ncl. ac. ukRisks, November 13, 1989. panko. cba. hawaii. edussrCraggKingCraggKing. htm Cragg amp King 1993 Spreadsheet Modelling Abuse One of Ray Pankos stories illustrates the problem of using precision as displayed in Excel: Two 15,000-cell spreadsheets were used for a market projection. Numbers were rounded off to whole dollars, but an error during inputting caused the inflation multiplier of 1.06 to also be rounded off, becoming 1. Without inflation the market was underestimated by 36million, having serious consequences for the business News items are the copyright of the original authors as cited by the link to the story source. Editing and comments copyright (c) 2003, 2004 Patrick OBeirne, European Spreadsheet Risk Interest Group. The contents of this page may not be copied without attribution. We encourage a link to us with this description: eusprig. orghorror-stories. htm Spreadsheet mistakes - news stories collated by the European Spreadsheet Risks Interest Group. They illustrate common problems and errors that occur with the uncontrolled use of spreadsheets, with comments on the risk and possible avoidance action. If you would like to contribute to this, email Stories at eusprig dot org with your story. You may find more by searching the web for Spreadsheet and these keywords (and their variants such as - ed, - ing, - s and - ly): anomaly, audit finding, bug, bungled, chaos, cock-up, corrupt, damage, debug, defect, deficiency, disaster, dubious, embarrassment, error, erroneous, Excel, exposed, failed, failure, false, falsify, fault, faulty, fiasco, flaw, foul-up, fraud, fraudulent, fubar, garbage, GIGO, glitch, hell, horror story, inaccurate, inadequate, inadvertent, incorrect, insecure, invalid, invalidated, issue, lies, loss, manipulation, miscalculate, miscalculation, mislead, missing, mistake, missing, misunderstood, nightmare, non-compliance, not correct, oops, overestimate, overstatement, problem, risk, rogue, serious, slip, snafu, suspect, suspicious, trap, typo, unchecked, uncontrolled, uncorrected, uncovered, underestimate, understatement, undetected, untested, violation, weak, weakness, wrong. NEW TGS HOOPS. WHERE ARE THE MID-MAJORS THIS SEASON American.. . Right now the best hope for the mid-majors to get more than two Dance bids might be in the American, where a handful of entries seem to have legit shots for at-large slots. Both SMU (RPI 22 and eligible once again for the Dance) and Cincinnati (RPI 26) appear to be well-positioned for March consideration by the Selection Committee, but beyond the Mustangs and Bearcats, it begins to look dicey. Temples RPI (48) looks better than its 9-7 SU record. Kelvin Sampsons Houston (RPI 60) and Johnny Dawkins UCF (RPI 61) have the look of bubble teams, and Tubby NEW TGS COVER STORY. WILD CARDS AND THE OVER THE HILL GANG The expansion of the pro football playoffs is one of the fascinating differences from our first year of publishing TGS in 1957 to the present. In the late 50s, before there was even an American Football League, there were only twelve professional teams (six in each conference, the Western and Eastern) and one playoff game to decide the NFL title. Almost always those championship games were played before the end of December, too by comparison, the current regular season extended into January Interestingly, in our first publishing year, the NFL title game between Cleveland and TGS SPECIAL REPORT. WAKEY-LEAKS UNDER THE MICROSCOPE We are still trying to process the bizarre recent Wakey-Leaks story involving Wake Forest football radio color analyst Tommy Elrod. First, a bit of background. Elrod--a former Wake Forest player and assistant coach--provided or attempted to provide confidential game preparation material to opponents several times starting in 2014, the school announced earlier in December. Wake Forest began a program-wide investigation (without the aid of FBI Director James Comey, we are sure) last month after an equipment TGS HOOPS. FIRST (DECEMBER) BRACKETOLOGY UPDATE 1 Duke (12-1) vs. 16 Grambling (5-7)Long Beach State (4-10). H ere we go with the first effects of the NCAAs decision to pull tournaments out of North Carolina based upon the states LGBT restroom policies. Well save commentary for another day. In the meantime Tobacco Road will be out of sub-regional mix for the first time in many years. Right now we suspect Duke gets to the top line, especially as its star frosh are now healthy and contributing, though Grayson Allens continued petulance and immaturity are becoming serious issues (he is now on suspension after TGS SPECIAL REPORT. CAROUSELS, BOWLS, BROWNS. AND 76 BUCS As the rapidly-progressing 2016 football season moves into December, we at TGS prepare for one of our most exciting and gratifying times of the year. Within two weeks, well be into the bowl season, always a marker for us because these games have often defined past seasons. And when wrapping up a sixth decade of publishing, as we are in 2016, the years could easily start running together in our minds without recollections of the bowls, and the enduring memories they provide for past seasons. In a moment, well get to talking about the upcoming postseason calendar, as well as take a look at where TGS SPECIAL REPORT. WHAT NEXT FOR NEW JERSEY Readers of these pages know that we at TGS have been keeping a close watch on developments in New Jersey regarding the Garden States attempt to legalize Las Vegas-style sports betting. That attempt took another detour in August when the states latest bid was rejected for a third time by the U. S. Third Circuit Court in Philadelphia. The question now is if the latest roadblock is going to completely stall New Jerseys attempts, or will the Garden State come up with yet another alternative that might change its luck in federal court (or, better TGS SPECIAL REPORT. RIVALRY WEEK II--AND THE TEN-YEAR WAR A longtime staple of season-ending college rivalry weeks has been the annual showdown between Ohio State and Michigan, who renew hostilities again this Saturday in another crucial game with possible national title implications by the banks of the Olentangy in Columbus. Hard as Urban Meyer and Jim Harbaugh try, however, they have a long way to go to reach the intensity levels of predecessors Woody Haynes and Bo Schembechler in the days of this series between 1968-78, when a Rose Bowl bid would go to the winner of Buckeyes-Wolverines each year, TGS SPECIAL REPORT. COLLEGE FB RIVALRY WEEK(S) ON DECK For most of our publishing years at TGS . the college football regular season has ended with a bang when the vast majority of the most-heated traditional rivalries would take place on the same late-November weekend, usually just before Thanksgiving. The fun would annually continue into Thanksgiving week when a handful of other longtime hostilities would be renewed. But changes in the college scheduling over the years have somewhat muted the old rivalry week phenomenon. Instead, and a more than a bit regrettably NEW TGS HOOPS COVER STORY. TGS 2016-17 COLLEGE HOOPS TOP 40 1-VILLANOVA. Its been a decade since the Florida Gators recorded the last repeat national championship. And teams rarely pick up where they left off at the end of the previous season. But when last seen, Nova was the best team in the country, and much of the same cast returns, including national player of the year candidate swingman Josh Hart and various other components from Jay Wrights 2015-16 masterpiece. The bad news Point guard Ryan Arcidiacono and C Daniel Ochefu were key cogs in the run to the title. And touted frosh recruit Omari Spellman has been ruled an academic redshirt and will not be eligible this season. TGS SPECIAL REPORT. BEHIND NFL RATINGS DROP--PART II Maybe they knew something after all . Were talking about sports owners and sports leagues of yesteryear, when the prevailing philosophy, at least regarding TV, was that less is more. Of course, it was a different era when TGS began publishing in 1957, before an explosion in TV rights fees would be worth billions of dollars. In those days, team owners and leagues would derive most of their revenue from the live gate. While there were a handful of exceptions TGS SPECIAL REPORT. ON THE COLLEGE FB HOT SEAT Texas. Not exactly a surprise here, as HC Charlie Strong has been getting more abuse from Texas backers than Paul Ryan has been receiving from Donald Trump supporters. Strong has upgraded the Longhorn offense this season because his forced hire for a new offensive coordinator, Sterlin Gilbert (via Tulsa), has mostly worked well, though Strong has had to reassume control of his defense after demoting coordinator Vance Bedford. Longhorn backers, who have not had a national title contender since Mack Browns 2009 team, are awfully restless TGS HOOPS PREVIEW. 2016-17 NBA WEST FUTURES TO WATCH The Phoenix Suns (29) have too often committed an NBA version of hari-kari under the ownership of unpredictable Robert Sarver, whose idiosyncracies have created an unstable environment and helped undermine the recent promise of the Jeff Hornacek regime. But former player and assitant Earl Watson was retained as HC after showing some promise in his interim stint, and the Suns enter the campaign flying decidedly under the radar. That might be a plus, as the all-Kentucky backcourt of Eric Bledsoe and Brandon Knight, plus Devin Booker, has already flashed considerable TGS HOOPS PREVIEW. 2016-17 NBA EAST FUTURES TO WATCH In the end, the Washington Wizards (43) struck out like batters facing Max Scherzer in free agency, as attempts to lure hometown hero Kevin Durant, as well as options 1B (Al Horford) and 1C (Nicolas Batum), all failed, but not for lack of trying by team prexy Ernie Grunfeld. On the plus side, however, D. C. would end up as the landing place for HC Scott Brooks, who steered Ok City to relevance and won at a .620 clip for the Thunder before getting kicked to the curb before last season. After the Wiz tuned out Randy Wittman a season ago, Brooks would appear a nice upgrade on the bench. TGS SPECIAL REPORT. BEHIND THE NFL RATINGS DROP ldquoIn my opinion, Super Bowl ratings have peaked, just as they have for Monday Night Football. The changes in the industry that I have already mentioned are irreversible. The marriage between the NFL and the networks has entered a period of reevaluation and readjustment. Those halcyon days of yore are gone for good. rdquo -- Howard Cosell, from I Never Played the Game . 1985 The subject of football overexposure is not a new one. As noted above, various insiders have been offering dire warnings to gridiron and TV executives for more than a half century. For the most part, and until recently, they turned out to be false alarms. TGS SPECIAL REPORT. THE THIRD SATURDAY OF OCTOBER IN THE SEC Were approaching the midway point of the 2016 college football season, and already something resembling a changing of the guard is apparent. By now it is obvious that recent powerhouses such as Oregon, Michigan State, and Stanford have slipped far from their perches of the past few years. Notre Dame is staring down the barrel of a potential losing season. LSU has already fired its head coach rumors are flying that opposite numbers at legendary Texas, Southern Cal, and perhaps even Penn State and Notr e Dame could also be looking for new TGS SPECIAL REPORT. 2016 MLB PLAYOFF PREVIEW Something has got to give in the other NLDS that features the Washington Nats (2710) and the Los Angeles Dodgers (41) . both notorious postseason flops in recent years. Indeed, the Nats franchise has only once won a playoff series, and that came in the jerry-rigged 1981 strike season when, as the Montreal Expos, it won an NL East playoff vs. the Phils before being cruelly denied a World Series berth by the Dodgers and a game-deciding homer by current LA radio announcer Rick Monday. In 2016, however, it might be an edge to the Nats, partly because Washington has the home-field advantage TGS COLLEGE FOOTBALL PREVIEW. LOOKING FOR AN ANGLE Following is a brief example of our weekly Looking for an Angle feature courtesy Chief Analyst Gary Olshan. The full Angle can be accessed each week in TGS . issue No. 6 available online now Smu at TULSA (Friday). Scheduling dynamics favor Tulsa. Golden Hurricane off a bye week, while SMU on road for 4th time in first 6 weeks, including trip to Temple last week. Tulsa QB Dane Evans hit 19 of 27 for 240 yds. in his squadrsquos 40-31 series victory in Dallas LY. Ball State at CENTRAL MICHIGAN. BSU had captured 5 straight in series until LYrsquos 23-21 loss in Muncie. CMU QB Cooper Rush was en fuego, hitting 30 of 38 for 316 yds. amp 2 TDs. Cards are time-tested 32-14 as visiting underdog since 2006 (2-0 TY). TGS REPORT. HANDICAPPING THE BIG 12 EXPANSION DERBY Though the past couple of years have been relatively quiet, weve still seen more upheaval in the college conference landscape over the past six years than we have the sixty years preceding. The next movement of those tectonic plates could be just around the corner, as a once covert process has become unabashedly overt as the Big 12 has not only announced it is considering expanding beyond its current 10-school membership, but is openly soliciting applicants. At times over the past few months the process has more resembled the IOC evaluating bids from interested cities for the Summer and Winter Olympics, or FIFA for future World Cups TGS SPECIAL REPORT. THE NIGHT THE HOUSTON COUGARS HIT 100 In our six decades of publishing TGS . we have often been entertained (and intrigued) by the University of Houston, which is back in the spotlight again, having cracked the top ten after its impressive win vs. Oklahoma and appearing intent on staying in the title mix. If the Cougars can navigate through a better-than-advertised AAC slate, a late November date vs. Louisville suddenly has the look of a potential Final Four-elimination game (especially after the Cards romped past Florida State last Saturday). Wersquoll discuss more about the future of UH as a possible addition to the Big 12 in upcoming issues. But, as we continue our TGS SPECIAL REPORT. THE NIGHT THE SEC WENT PRIME TIME As has often been the case through our six decades of publishing TGS . the SEC continues to generate headlines in college football. No surprise, then, as we celebrate our 60th season of publishing, that we cant help but get into the SEC mood by reviewing one of the most significant games of the TGS era, one that we recall each season in the run-up to the annual grudge match between Alabama and Ole Miss, renewing hostilities this Saturday at Oxford. While it might be hard for modern-day fans TGS SPECIAL REPORT. NFL SEASON-WIN WAGERS TO WATCH NFC BEST BET. Wersquove seen enough over six decades not to overreact to preseason results, but it was hard to overlook some of the problems being endured by the Chicago Bears (7frac12) during the exhibition slate. The first-string offense in particular appeared a mess, unable to budge in the important third preseason test (vs. the Chiefs), which more than a few NFC sources suggest has a lot to do with the departure of o. c. Adam Gase, now the Miami HC who seemed to coax the best out of QB Jay Cutler a year ago. More specifically, there are some questions regarding TGS 2016 PRO FOOTBALL PREVIEW. A LOOK AT THE NFC WEST Wow, can it really be 40 years since the Seattle Seahawks entered the NFL We remember it like yesterday, including the first preseason and the inaugural game against the 49ers on the same day the Montreal Olympics concluded. We were watching the local San Francisco telecast, which was being shown in Reno (which is 49ers territory) as the Hawks fell behind 24-0 at the break but rallied in the second half behind unheralded first-year QB Jim Zorn, who had spent the previous season on the Cowboys taxi squad. Zorn led a breathtaking late rally that TGS 2016 PRO FOOTBALL PREVIEW. A LOOK AT THE AFC WEST KANSAS CITY. Letrsquos not forget that K. C. all but beat Denver last year when the Broncos had Peyton Manning and four-year veteran Brock Osweiler at QB. Recall also that one of the Chiefsrsquo losses was to Denver in the most bizarre fashion. The Broncos trailed 24-17, but tied the game on a Manning TDP with :36 to play. While everyone was settling in for the expected overtime, K. C. star RB Jamaal Charles unbelievably fumbled on the first play after kickoff, with Denver returning it 21 yards for a stunning 31-24 final Turn that score TGS SPECIAL REPORT. TGS AT 60 AND OPENING WEEK MEMORIES This is a special opening weekend of college football for us at TGS . as we embark upon our 60th season of publishing. As such, we will occasionally be recalling memorable games and events from the past six decades in a year-long celebration of our milestone campaign. Those who have visited our website know that we often enjoy taking a look back, as we do each summer for our college conference Retrospective series. No opening weekend, however, quite matched 1970, the year in which the NCAA in January granted schools the opportunity to add an extra ldquo11th gamerdquo to the schedule TGS 2016 PRO FOOTBALL PREVIEW. A LOOK AT THE NFC SOUTH CAROLINA. Prior to 2014, no team had ever repeated as champion of the contentious NFC South. Carolina did it that season with a mere 7-8-1 record After last yearrsquos much more impressive 15-1 regular season and three-peat in the division, the Panthers are now going for a previously unheard of South four-peat It wonrsquot necessarily be easy. Not even with 2014 WR sensation Kelvin Benjamin back after missing last year with a knee injury. Thatrsquos because the recent history of teams that lost the Super Bowl the previous season is not a good one . Just last year, previous Super Bowl loser TGS 2016 PRO FOOTBALL PREVIEW. A LOOK AT THE AFC SOUTH Chalk another up to super-agent Jimmy Sexton, whose stable of clients includes a near-quorum on SEC coaches. Plus several players, including QB Brock Osweiler, the key offseason addition for the Houston Texans . who would surprisingly steal the AFC South last year despite a slow 2-5 break from the gate and starting four different QBs during the wild ride of 2015. That, however, was before the offseason, when Osweiler was set to cash in on his stint as starting QB in Denver when Peyton Manning was TGS 2016 PRO FOOTBALL PREVIEW. A LOOK AT THE NFC NORTH GREEN BAY. Green Bay slipped a notch last season, losing at Lambeau in the season finale to the hated Vikings in the final regular-season game. That loss will sting, especially for a proud Packer team that had won four straight crowns in the NFCrsquos fabled ldquoBlack and Blue Division. rdquo The Green Bay brain trust rightly regards the still-improving Vikes as a worthy challenger to the Packrsquos recent domination. Every NFL team is going to endure some injury trials during the brutal, 16-game NFL regular season. Quality depth is valuable, and valid excuses few. But you have to forgive the Pack for TGS 2016 PRO FOOTBALL PREVIEW. A LOOK AT THE AFC NORTH It was a bit odd seeing the Baltimore Ravens ( out of the playoff mix a year ago after qualifying for the postseason in six of HC John Harbaughrsquos first seven seasons on the job. Upon inspection, however, it was totally understandable considering the casualty list (a league-high 20 players on injured reserve) that effectively sabotaged the campaign. By December, QB Joe Flacco, RB Justin Forsett, and WR Steve Smith were all out, and 2015 never began for rookie WR Breshard Perriman, KOrsquod in preseason. And that was just on the offensive side. How the TGS 2016 PRO FOOTBALL PREVIEW. A LOOK AT THE AFC EAST NEW ENGLAND. This is one of the safest picks in the NFL, considering the Patriots have won 13 of the last 15 AFC East titles. Not to mention four Super Bowls. In those two years New England did not win the East, they lost on tiebreakers to the Jets at 9-7 and missed the playoffs in 2002, and lost on tiebreakers to Miami in 2006 and also missed the playoffs, f inishing 11-5 despite losing Tom Brady in the season opener due to a torn ACL. Backup Matt Cassel guided the team the rest of the way, building a multi-million-dollar career for himself as a result. Brady will be missing time once again this season, being suspended the first four games after TGS 2016 PRO FOOTBALL PREVIEW. A LOOK AT THE NFC EAST Considering some of the dramatic yearly fluctuations in the history of the New York Giants, bouncing back from last yearrsquos 6-10 disappointment is nothing out of the ordinary. Why, in the first decade of TGS publishing back in the lsquo60s, the annual G-Men rollercoaster ride resembled that of the old ldquoCyclonerdquo at Coney Island. After winning a third straight Eastern Conference title in 1963, New York sagged to 2-10-2 the following season, prompting the retirement of key vets such as Y. A. Tittle and Frank Gifford. The Giants recovered to 7-7 the next season before completely TGS 2016 COLLEGE FB PREVIEW. TGS PRESEASON TOP 40 1-CLEMSON. Like last yearrsquos Kansas City Royals, who used their narrow miss the previous season to fuel a return to the World Series and a win over the Mets, ACC sources believe the close loss to Alabama in last Januaryrsquos CFP title game (one in which Clemson often looked the better team) could serve as a similar motivator to this seasonrsquos Tigers. Postseason wins in recent years over LSU, Ohio State, and Oklahoma (twice) have proven that Dabo Swinneyrsquos program is now among the nationrsquos elite. Star jr. QB Deshaun Watson returns as the ultimate catalyst l TGS 2016 COLLEGE FB PREVIEW. A LOOK AT THE INDEPENDENTS NOTRE DAME. ND coach Brian Kelly has a rebuilding job to do after losing 7 players drafted in the top 103 picks by the NFL in May, but there is plenty of reason for optimism in South Bend. Last year was a season of almost unprecedented injuries for Notre Dame, as the team lost its top QB, top three RBs, starting TE and nose tackle, plus a fistful of defensive backups. Yet the Irish were 10-1 and in position to be in the CFP semifinal before a last-second field goal gave Stanford a 38-36 win in Palo Alto Nov. 28. The Irish quality and depth at QB is impressive. Soph DeShone Kizer TGS SEC RETROSPECTIVE. THE MISSING RING AT ALABAMA The roll call of Alabama national title winners has become almost too long to count. Indeed, the years and championships seem to run together. From afar, that is. Talk to any longtime Crimson Tide backer on the subject, however, and it will become apparent that the Bama faithful are still irked about one particular national title that got away. through no fault of the football team. Indeed, it is hard to envision an Alabama team finishing a season unbeaten and not being awarded the national title. It happened, however, back in 1966, even prompting a compelling TGS 2016 COLLEGE FB PREVIEW. A LOOK AT THE SUN BELT APP STATE. The Mounties came within one game of winning the Sun Belt Conference last season and is eager to get over the hump in 2016. The Mountaineersrsquo only losses in 2015 were an expected 41-10 setback at Clemson and a key, disappointing home loss to Arkansas State in what turned out to be the decisive battle in the SBC. HC Scott Satterfield is now 22-15 entering his third season in Boone, NC, where App State previously captured three FCS championships. The Mounties won their first FBS TGS 2016 COLLEGE FB PREVIEW. A LOOK AT THE MAC--PART II BOWLING G REEN. MAC defending champ Bowling Green will be starting over on several fronts this season. First, Mike Jinks has arrived from Texas Tech to take over the head coaching job from Dino Babers, who moved on to Syracuse. The Falcons will also be replacing a fistful of offensive weapons, as QB Matt Johnson (4946 YP, 46 TDP LY), WRs Roger Lewis (1544 yds. 16 TDs), Gehrig Dieter (1033 yds. 10 scores), and RB Travis Greene (1299 YR, 15 TDs) all have moved on. The good news for Jinks and the BG faithful is that the Falcons have TGS 2016 COLLEGE FB PREVIEW. A LOOK AT THE MAC--PART I NORTHERN ILLINOIS. Itrsquos difficult to make a case for a team other than Northern Illinois in the MAC West. The Huskies have been the West representative in the MAC championship for six straight seasons and are returning 13 starters, including sr. QB Drew Hare, all of their top ground gainers, and some decorated offensive linemen. In 2015, HC Rod Carey lsquos team lost more than three games for the first time since 2009, but one of the losses was to Ohio State by just a TD, and three others came by an average of just 7 points. NIU covered nine of its first 11 games before season-closing SU and spread losses to Ohio, Bowling Green (MAC title game), and TGS 2016 COLLEGE FB PREVIEW. A LOOK AT C-USA--PART II Where has the time gone It doesnrsquot seem so long ago that we knew of Rick Stockstill as the QB of the first powerhouse Bobby Bowden teams at Florida State. That, however, is now close to 40 years in the rear-view mirror. It also doesnrsquot seem as if Stockstill has been the HC for the past ten years at Middle Tennessee . which in that span has made the move from the Sun Belt to C-USA and become bowl-eligible (though not necessarily bowl - selected ) in six of the past seven seasons. As for Stockstill, he now seems content in Murfreesboro after a few dalliances with other TGS 2016 COLLEGE FB PREVIEW. A LOOK AT C-USA--PART I Perhaps the closest thing to a perennial power in Conference USA has been Louisiana Tech . which has quietly cranked out at least eight wins in four of the past five seasons and romped to its second postseason win in a row last December when walloping Arkansas State in the New Orleans Bowl, 12 months after burying Illinois in the Dallas Bowl. Considering the plight of the rest of the Western half of the loop, another bowl trip appears likely even with a demanding non-conference slate (more on that in a moment) and some considerable reloading to TGS 2016 COLLEGE FB PREVIEW. A LOOK AT THE AMERICAN--PART II HOUSTON mdash The sky is the limit for a Houston squad that finished a school-best 13-1 in Tom Hermanrsquos first season as the head man in 2015, which included a headline-grabbing 38-24 upset win over powerhouse Florida State in the Peach Bowl. The Cougs, a clear choice to repeat as the AAC champs, wonrsquot rest on their laurels under laser-focused Herman, who immediately brought a hard-nosed mentality to the squad. Herman says, ldquoThe record might not show it, but we might be a better team or we might have a better record and TGS 2016 COLLEGE FB PREVIEW. A LOOK AT THE AMERICAN--PART I SOUTH FLORIDA mdash Our No. 1 choice in the East are the ascending Bulls, who made a huge leap last season, making their first bowl appearance since 2010. As a result, 4th-year HC Willie Taggart deservedly received a three-year extension. Expectations are high in Tampa this year, but that has prompted caution from Taggart. ldquoWe are a target, rdquo the coach says. ldquoPeople are going to circle us on their schedule, and we will get everyonersquos best shot. But thatrsquos what we want. We want to be a team that people look to and expect big things from. I have to keep reminding the guys, lsquoWe TGS 2016 COLLEGE FB PREVIEW. A LOOK AT THE BIG 12 TCU. Despite some questions to be answered on his team, it seems pretty clear that Gary Patterson will have his Horned Frogs in contention once again this season, his 16th as HC in Fort Worth. Long an advocate of defense-first football, Patterson (a former safety amp LB as a player and always a defensive coach as an assistant) has admitted on more than one occasion to be rather horrified at the ultra-rapid pace and constant back and forth of so many games these days in the Big 12. But give him credit for adjusting Pattersonrsquos team is 23-3 SU the L2Ys since switching to an Air Raid offense directed by former Oklahoma State and Houston TGS 2016 COLLEGE FB PREVIEW. A LOOK AT THE SEC--PART II TENNESSEE mdash With a full house of 18 starters returning, expectations are sky high at UT, which is our pick to win the SEC East for the first time since 2007. The Vols have shown steady progression under fourth-year HC Butch Jones, who has gone from 5-7 to 7-6 to 9-4. But UT must learn how to pull out the close ones after suffering four losses by a combined 17 points, including a 31-24 double-OT home defeat to Oklahoma and a bitter 28-27 loss at Florida LY, when Jones eschewed an obvious 2-pt. conversion try when up by 12 in the 4th Q. The Vols, whorsquore excited for their Week 2 showdown TGS 2016 COLLEGE FB PREVIEW. A LOOK AT THE SEC--PART I ALABAMA mdash Bama, which has won four national titles in the past seven seasons, will be expected to be in championship contention despite having some holes to fill at QB, RB and on defense. But 10th-year HC Nick Saban, who is now in the discussion as the greatest college coach of all time, will just need to reload once again with a former five-star recruit competing for playing time at every position group. No question talent-rich LSU and Ole Miss are formidable contenders in the dangerous SEC West. But we must once again give the nod to the rolling Tide, which signed the nationrsquos No.1 recruiting class TGS 2016 COLLEGE FB PREVIEW. A LOOK AT THE ACC--PART II So much for any talk that Clemson might have been a fluke last season. Ask Alabama HC Nick Saban, who looked as relieved after Januaryrsquos BCS title escape over the Tigers as he might after completing the Boston Marathon. Saban had reason to feel thankful, because the Crimson Tide could not stop Clemson, or more specifically then-soph QB Deshaun Watson, who passed and ran Bama silly in the title game to the tune of 478 total yards. Only a series of big plays by the Tide allowed Saban to escape TGS 2016 COLLEGE FB PREVIEW. A LOOK AT THE ACC--PART I The last time a Virginia Tech team was not coached by Frank Beamer, Wayne Gretzky still played for the Edmonton Oilers, Bill Walton played for the Boston Celtics, and Ronald Reagan was not quite halfway thru his second term in the White House. It was December of 1986, New Yearrsquos Eve to be exact, at the Peach Bowl in the old Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, and the Hokies would win a thriller vs. NC State, 25-24, on PK Chris Kinzerrsquos 40-yard FG on the final play of the game. Even with the excitement of the win, it was not an easy time for the VPI program, as HC Bill Dooley, who had served in TGS ACC RETROSPECTIVE. CLEMSON TAKES A GOOD PUNCH The history of Atlantic Coast Conference membership would be a college sports equivalent of the expansion of the United States had a few of the original 13 colonies decided to withdraw and align with Canada or Mexico. But there are definite similarities in the pattern(s) of growth that have expanded the league to something much different from its original configuration. The league now stretches almost the length of the entire eastern seaboard, from Boston to Miami, and has extended its tentacles westward as far as Louisville and South Bend, Indiana. Along TGS 2016 COLLEGE FB PREVIEW. A LOOK AT THE BIG TEN--PART II OHIO STATE. Itrsquos time for Ohio State to reload after losing a record five first-round NFL draft picks as well as seven other players picked in the ensuing three rounds. And very few teams can reload like OSU. The Buckeyes are 50-4 SU in four years under HC Urban Meyer, and hersquos recruited as well as the team has played. The last five recruiting classes at Columbus have been rated in the top five in the nation, so therersquos a stack of blue chips waiting in the wings. Seven members of this yearrsquos new class enrolled early for spring, so donrsquot be surprised to see some future NFL draftees begin their TGS 2016 COLLEGE FB PREVIEW. A LOOK AT THE BIG TEN--PART I I OWA. Iowa had one of its finest seasons ever last year, improving from a blah 7-6 campaign in 2014 to a perfect 12-0 regular season and a first-place finish in the Big Ten West. However, the Hawkeyes lost a heartbreaker in the final minute against Michigan State in the conference playoff and subsequently fell flat in the Rose Bowl, as Stanford routed Iowa 45-16. But HC Kirk Ferentz can hold his head high in his 18th season in charge, as 13 starters return, including key performers on both platoons. QB C. J. Beathard is the statistically most efficient returning QB in the TGS BIG TEN RETROSPECTIVE. THE BIG, BAD 65 SPARTANS In college football, the most-compelling of qny all-time best debates might involve the Big Ten, with no shortage of candidates from the past. For our money at TGS . however, there was one Big Ten entry that still resonates more than a half-century later, one that we believe compares favorably with any. We could take our pick whether itrsquos the 1965 or 1966 editions of the Michigan State Spartans that were if nothing else were among the most transformational teams in not only Big Ten, but college football, history. For the purposes of selecting one or the other, we opt for the 1965 version that many still believe was the best college defensive team ever seen TGS 2016 COLLEGE FB PREVIEW. A LOOK AT THE PAC 12--PART II UCLA. There will be a new emphasis this season at UCLA, as HC Jim Mora Jr. (37-16 in four years in Westwood new extension through 2021) seeks to fully exploit the immense potential of soph QB Josh Rosen (60.0, 3670 YP, 23 TDs, 11 ints. as a true freshman starter). It seems like the logical time for Mora to alter the Bruinsrsquo offensive system, as former coordinator Noel Mazzone has taken his considerable experience to Texas AampM ( UCLArsquos opening-game opponent) after four years of mentoring Brett Hundley and Rosen in his TGS 2016 COLLEGE FB PREVIEW. A LOOK AT THE PAC 12--PART I STANFORD . .. Is Stanford more like USC these days than USC Perhaps so, as the Cardinal have won three of the last four Pac-12 titles and have gone to the Rose Bowl in three of the last four years, winning two of the three trips. Also, Stanford boasts the top RB force in the league in stat-sheet stuffer Christian McCaffrey, who helped the team power for a robust 5.1 ypc. Whatrsquos more, the Cardinal have had 24 players drafted into the NFL in the last five years, more than any other Pac-12 team. Thatrsquos the type of stuff that used to be associated with Southern Cal when USC was the dominant TGS 2016 COLLEGE FB PREVIEW. A LOOK AT THE MTN WEST--PART II The end of an era, perhaps Fans at Boise State (2015 SUR 9-4, PSR 6-7) were acting so after the Broncos surrendered the Mountain West crown last season and lost multiple times on their home blue carpet for the first time since 1998. The rabid support base was caught off-guard much as the ldquoremainrdquo crowd in the UK for the recent Brexit vote. H ow could it happen Some are suggesting the fall from the perch was inevitable after HC Chris Petersen left TGS 2016 COLLEGE FB PREVIEW. A LOOK AT THE MTN WEST--PART I By the end of last season, the only thing grating about San Diego State (2015 SUR 11-3, PSR 8-5-1) was longtime play-by-play man Ted Leitner. Ten straight wins to close the season would make it easy to ignore the infuriating Leitner as the Aztecs began to fly in some rarified air, tying one of the legendary Don Coryellrsquos best SDSU teams (with QB Dennis Shaw in 1969) for the schoolrsquos all-time win mark at 11. Along the way the Aztecs rolled to the Mountain West crown and restored some dignity to the league when TGS PAC-12 RETROSPECTIVE. OJS HEISMAN YEAR AT USC With our revived fascination in OJ Simpson thanks to a couple of glitzy recent TV specials, we thought it might be interesting to go back to the early days of the OJ legacy to remind everyone what all the fuss was about in the first place, long before the white Bronco, Johnnie Cochran, and Lance Ito would become forever linked with the Juice. And why not After all, we had an up-front seat to the beginning of the OJ legend, when he leaped into national prominence (perhaps like no other college athlete in our lifetimes) while at nearby USC. Moreover, we were there at the start of the TGS MW RETROSPECTIVE. FREEDOM NIGHT FOR FRESNO STATE As we have done the past three years, along with our summer College FB conference previews, well be providing corresponding retrospective pieces on select leagues as we begin the year-long celebration of our 60th season publishng TGS, set to commence this fall Conference previews begin later in June with the Mountain West . but first is our MW retrospective piece, recalling a special night for Fresno State. Last February, during Super Bowl week in San Francisco, one of the main attractions was the ldquoNFL Experiencerdquo at the Moscone Center. The NFL Experiencerdquo is one of the annual rites TGS 2016 COLLEGE FB PREVIEW. COACHES ON THE HOT SEAT Darrell Hazell. Purdue. Some Big Ten sources were wondering if Hazell would survive 2015 if the Boilermakers missed a bowl game for the third straight season on his watch. Not only did Purdue, miss, it didnt come close, regressing to 2-10, putting Hazell at a not-so-robust 6-30 in three years on the job at Ross-Ade Stadium. Failure to land a postseason slot in 2016 would likely prompt a revolt by whatever boosters are remaining in West Lafayette, so Hazell enters next season not only on the hot seat, but also as one of the coaches most likely to walk the plank before the campaign. NEW COVER STORY. TGS 2016 NFL DRAFT PREVIEW--PART II 22-HOUSTON TEXANS . The Texans made one of the big splashes of free agency when stealing QB Brock Osweiler from the Super Bowl champion Broncos. After a slow start in 2015 and somehow qualifying for the playoffs when using four different QBs, so desperate was Houston GM Rick Smith for an upgrade at the position that he acquiesced to every demand of Osweiler agent Jimmy Sexton, who priced his client out of the range John Elway was willing to pay in Denver. Well see if Osweiler, with only seven NFL starts under his belt, is worth a 4-year, 72 million deal. The Osweiler signing pushes QB to the back burner NEW COVER STORY. TGS 2016 NFL DRAFT PREVIEW--PART I 1-LOS ANGELES RAMS (from Titans). The first winner (as most expected) in the intense return-to-L. A. derby, the Rams embark on a back-to-the-future theme as they temporarily relocate to the historic L. A. Coliseum, which the team abandoned for Anaheim after 1979, while construction begins on their new football palace on the site of the old Hollywood Park race track in Inglewood, set to open in 2019. In this transition year, HC Jeff Fisher has been retained after another losing season in St. Louis, with reported pressure from owner Stan Kroenke to get the team to the playoffs (or else) this fall. There TGS SPECIAL REPORT. 2016 COLLEGE HOOPS SUPERLATIVES TGS PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Malcolm Brogdon, Virginia. We vacillated more than usual on this award for 2015-16, and considered making it a shared honor (though we really dont like to resort to co-winners if we can avoid it). In the end, there was simply a bit more consensus for Brogdon than anyone else. Cause for pause was Brogdons subpar effort (2 for 14 from the floor) in Virginias elimination game in the Elite Eight against Syracuse, when the Cavs blew a late 15-point lead, completing an underwhelming MidwWest Regional for the Virginia senior. Though Brogdon would not be the only player TGS 2016 COLLEGE HOOPS ALL-NEWCOMER TEAM NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR: Jamal Murray, Kentucky. After several years of freshmen dominating the scene, 2015-16 truly was the Year of the Upperclassmen if not the Year of the Seniors in college hoops. A refreshing change, if you ask us, and one we expanded upon in a late-January editorial, when pointing out just a handful of true frosh in the starting lineups, or making any meaningful contributions at all, for top ten teams in the previous weeks poll. Our All-Newcomer team for 2015-16 somewhat reflects those developments of the fast-concluding season, as the only one of TGS MLB PREVIEW. PLAY BALL 2016 AL FUTURES TO WATCH It was nice to see the Minnesota Twins (78 frac12) back in contention last season, as new manager Paul Molitor pushed many of the right buttons despite a succession of stats that belied a spirited run into wild card contention until the last weekend of the season. The Twins were middling statistically in most offensive categories while their team ERA was one of the worst in the league, yet Molitor kept the team in the playoff discussion. Still, the staff was more effective than in previous years, especially 2014 when it ranked bottom-of-the-bigs in ERA (5.06). And the improvement came even with TGS MLB PREVIEW. PLAY BALL 2016 NL FUTURES TO WATCH It has been a few years since we mentioned over and the Philadelphia Phillies (65 12) in the same sentence inside one of our NL season previews. Assuming, however, the Phils bottomed out during last years difficult 63-99 slog, there could be a bit of value on the upside in Philly. The organization has finally culled almost all of the dead weight (including slow-to-react GM Ruben Amaro) it was carrying from the recent glory years of the players who stayed far beyond their sell-by date, only 1B Ryan Howard remains, and even he figures as no more than a TGS SWEET 16 PREVIEW. PLUS TAR HEELS-HOOSIERS MEMORIES After first and second rounds of the Big Dance that suggested all sorts of wild matchup possibilities for the Sweet 16 and beyond, order seems to have been restored-albeit narrowly. The spry upset winners from the first round, and many of the potential rich storylines for the tournament, all would go down to defeat (some in more heartbreaking fashion than others) in the second round. The lowest seeds remaining in the Dance are all college hoops brand names (7 seed Wisconsin in the East, 10th and 11 th seeds Syracuse and Gonzaga in the South). Surprisingly, there are a record six Atlantic Coast Conference teams still alive, which makes the TGS NCAA HOOPS. INDIANA AND KENTUCKY RENEW HOSTILITIES While we have often found room to complain about the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee, as we did with pleasure once again in our previous issue . we do admit to some admiration for the occasional devilish side displayed by the group, and when it plays a de facto matchmaker role for confrontations that have extra elements beyond two quality teams facing one another. We recall one such development, during the days when Kentucky would refuse to schedule Louisville in hoops. The selection committee, however, nonetheless tried its darnedest to set up a matchup in the Big NEW TGS HOOPS. OFF CONFERENCE BIG DANCE RESULTS Following are straight-up and pointspread results for all of the lower-echelon and ldquooffrdquo conferences in NCAA Tournament play since 1994. While straight-up wins are certainly not common for these lower-echelon conference reps in NCAA action, they are not unheard of, either, as the best of this lot has been able to cause real damage in recent years. Some of those who have famously succeeded in sub-regionals over the past decade include Mercer, North Dakota State, and Stephen F. Austin in 2014, Florida Gulf Coast in 2013, plus several others from recent memory including Morehead State, Siena, NEW TGS HOOPS. BUBBLE UPDATE AND TOURNEY PREVIEW SEC-- Solid . Kentucky, Texas AampM . Parece bom. South Carolina, Vandy. Bubble. Alabama, Ole Miss, LSU, Florida. Conference-6th. Notas. Tourney March 11-15 at Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, TN (home of the NHL Predators). Ano passado. NCAA-5 (Kentucky-Final Four, Arkansas-Second Round, LSU, Ole Miss, Georgia) NIT-3 (Vanderbilt-Quarterfinals, Bama - Second Round, Texas AampM-Second Round). BUBBLE TALK AND TOURNEY PREVIEW. The recent it team in the SEC is Vandy, which can move into the solid category with a TGS HOOPS. EARLY COLLEGE CONFERENCE TOURNEY PREVIEW SUMMIT. Tourney March 7-10 at the 2-year-old Denny Sanford PREMIER Center, Sioux Falls, SD (not the home court of nearby, Brookings-based South Dakota State, which plays its home games at Frost Arena, or of nearby, Vermillion-based South Dakota, which plays its home games at the Dakota Dome). The Summit League was formerly known as Mid-Continent Conference. Top contenders - South Dakota State, IPFW, Omaha, North Dakota State . Notas. This wildly-supported event in Sioux Falls takes place for the second year in the still shiny-and-new TGS HOOPS SPECIAL REPORT. LATE FEBRUARY BRACKETOLOGY 4 Duke (20-7, 12) vs. 13 Hawaii (22-3, 78). Duke has recently rallied itself back into the protected seed discussion. Although the Blue Devils would probably rather be nearby on Tobacco Road at Raleigh for the sub-regional, the Brooklyn venue would be the second choice for Coach Krsquos team, and the large contingent of Duke alums in the Big Apple. This would not be optimum travel to Brooklyn for Hawaii, six time zones away from home. The Rainbow Warriors might have a case for an at-large, which they might need, since the Big West Tourney is on the mainland, and top TGS HOOPS SPECIAL REPORT. COLLEGE TOURNEY LOOK-AHEAD ATLANTIC TEN -- Solid. Dayton . Parece bom. Saint Josephs, VCU, George Wa shington, St. Bonaventure. Conference-8th. Tourney March 9-13 at Barclays Center, Brooklyn, NY. Ano passado. NCAA-3 (Dayton-Second Round, Davidson, Virginia Commonwealth) NIT-3 (Richmond-Quarterfinals, George Washington-Second Round, Rhode Island-Second Round). Notas. Though VCU currently leads the A-10 standings, Daytons overall accomplishments have it rated slightly higher than the Rams and St. Joes, though the latter two both appear likely to land NCAA Tourney bids. GWU and St. NEW TGS HOOPS. FALSE ALARMS AGAIN AT NBA TRADE DEADLINE ATLANTA.. . After all of the talk about perhaps moving unrestricted free agent-to-be Al Horford and loosening the logjam in the backcourt by dealing away PG Jeff Teague, and perhaps dangling sharpshooter Kyle Korver, the Hawks instead decided to keep their core in tact and hope to rekindle some of last yearrsquos magic their big three provided a season ago. In the end, they did free up some minutes in their backcourt by dealing PG Shelvin Mack to the Jazz, shedding Mackrsquos salary while adding a 2nd-round draft pick in return. TGS HOOPS SPECIAL REPORT. NBA ALL-STAR BREAK REVIEW PART II Oklahoma City (40-14). Theres a big difference between now and a year ago for the Thunder, when Kevin Durant battled injuries and played in only 27 games as Ok City would miss the playoffs. More on current status in a moment. But there is perhaps a bigger story within the story this season at The Peake, and it involves Durant and his pending free agency. To their credit, the Thunder have been making moves for the past couple of years designed to upgrade the supporting cast and make Durant believe that he should stay with the Thunder, which is also going TGS HOOPS SPECIAL REPORT. NBA ALL-STAR BREAK REVIEW--PART I Cleveland (38-14). The Cavs are in a different place than they were at this time a year ago, six games ahead of their 2014-15 pace, and well beyond the roster juggling and personnel moves that continued thru the first half of last season. Cleveland is also now without HC Dave Blatt (released a few days after a blowout loss to the Warriors last month), even with a 30-11 SU record, lending credence to the long-rumored reports of LeBron James never feeling comfy in the Blatt system (or vice versa, as Blatt could never implement the free-flowing offense that worked so well for him in Europe TGS SUPER BOWL 50 REVIEW. THIS ONES FOR PAT There was a time in TGS existence when the two laughingstock franchises in pro football were the Pittsburgh Steelers and Denver Broncos. The Steelers never even made the postseason until 1972, and we all know what happened thereafter. Denver, being one of the original eight AFL franchises, didnt start until much later than the Steelers, but the Broncos never did better than a 7-7 mark in 1962 during the ten-season run of the league. Denver never even finished with a winning record until John Ralstons second Bronco edition in 1973. And the playoffs would have to wait for 1977, when TGS COLLEGE H OOPS. EARLY FEBRUARY BRACKETOLOGY UPDATE 7 Duke (16-6, 25) vs. 10 VCU (16-5, 31). Its been a while since weve seeded Duke this low. Its also been a while since the Blue Devils were out of the Top 25, which just happened last week. Times change . A matchup vs. VCU would recall bad memories for Coach K, whose Duke was dumped by the Rams in the sub-regional in 2007, when Eric Maynor (remember him) was the VCU hero. The current Rams, under first-year HC and Shaka Smart disciple Will Wade, have not lost since Dec. 19 vs. Cincinnati and are currently setting the TGS SPECIAL REPORT. ALL-TIME SUPER BOWL RANKINGS New England 28 - Seattle 24 (at Glendale, AZ). A back-and-forth game played in fits and spurts that took a while to warm up. But just when the Seahawks seemed to have taken control for good in the second half, Tom Brady would rally the Patriots to a late lead before a wild last two minutes and a much-discussed final sequence that blew up in Seattles face, when Russell Wilson was picked off by Malcolm Butler at the one-yard line. All after it seemed as if Seattle was about to steal the game following a circus tipped-catch by Jermaine Kearse at the New TGS NFL SPECIAL REPORT. THE DAY PRO FOOTBALL CHANGED This year marks Super Bowl 50, but it is also 47 years after the game that really put the Super Bowl on the map. yet nonetheless remains a bit of mystery. We reprise our recount of the events of January 12, 1969, and Jets-Colts. Forty - seven years later, Jets 16-Colts 7 seems as hard to believe today as it was back on January 12, 1969. And wersquore not the only ones who still wonder what happened that afternoon at the Orange Bowl. Not to suggest that something was going on under the table that day in Miami, but the way that game unfolded has always invited some curious speculation TGS COLLEGE HOOPS REPORT. THE YEAR OF THE UPPERCLASSMEN 1-Oklahoma . Perhaps no team exemplifies this years trend any better than the Sooners, who start three seniors (Gs Buddy Hield, a top Wooden Award candidate, and Isaiah Cousins, plus F Ryan Spangler). Lon Krugers team also starts a junior guard, Jordan Woodard, who has been in the starting lineup since his first game as a frosh over two years ago. Thus, Kruger has as much experience on the perimeter as any coach in the country . Sixth-man F Dinijyl Walker, a former juco transfer, is also a senior. The only underclassmen in the starting lineup is soph F Khadeem Lattin, and the lone frosh TGS COLLEGE HOOPS REPORT. LOW MID-MAJORS UPDATE Montana (SUR 12-7). The Grizzlies are currently setting the pace in the Sky, but they are not dominating the opposition. In fact, Montana has already won four league games in which it did not cover the pointspread Montana has also failed to cover its last four games (0-2-2) and is ldquounderrdquo in its last five decisions. Though in 6-8 German import PF Martin Breunig (18.7 ppg 24 ppg last four), the Griz do own the Skyrsquos best post threat. Weber State (13-6). Most regional observers believe HC Randy Rahersquos Wildcats will eventually emerge from the Sky thanks to the leaguersquos best 1-2 scoring punch with G Jeremy Senglin (18.3 ppg) and F Joel Bolomboy (17.9 ppg). WSU TGS SPECIAL REPORT. NFL CONFERENCE TITLE NOTEBOOK We at TGS precede the Super Bowl era by a full decade, and can recall a time when the pro football season would essentially end after the NFL and AFL championship games, usually contested in late December. ( TGS was also in existence for the three seasons between 1957-59 that preceded the existence of the old AFL) So when the Super Bowl initially arrived for the 1966 season (and yes, it was unofficially referred to as the Super Bowl by all media outlets before Pete Rozelle would TGS SPECIAL REPORT. THE INJURY MYTH IN THE NBA Back in 1974, TGS founder Mort Olshan wrote Winning Theories of Sports Handicapping, the first study of the art of handicapping sports contests. In that volume was a chapter entitled ldquoThe Injury Mythrdquo in which he laid out the idea that, in general, injuries were vastly overrated in handicapping football. Mort detailed numerous accounts of how rumors of injuries, deceitful coaches, cases of mistaken identity, and miraculous recoveries from bogus hard knocks had done far more to cloud than to clarify the analysis of sporting events. He recounted many instances of teams that were missing key players or had cluster injuries that overcame those problems and won th eir NEW TGS HOOPS. WEEKEND COLLEGE HOOPS WINNERS amp LOSERS WINNER: VPI. Sticking with our ACC theme this weekend, its also time to start taking the Hokies seriously after another win (this one at Georgia Tech) on Saturday. A victory over the Yellow Jackets shouldnt be newsworthy (especially a 1-point win), but any win on the conference road is a good win, especially since VPI hadnt won on the ACC trail since 2013. And VPI has already developed a fortress at Cassell Coliseum, where NC State, Virginia, and Wake Forest have fallen thus far in conference play. Now at 12-6, VPI can begin to think seriously about the postseason, with even a Big Dance bid no longer far-fetched. Moreover, it underlines the quick progress made in NEW TGS HOOPS. TGS MID-JANUARY BRACKETOLOGY UPDATE 5 Duke (14-3, 9) vs. 12 Hawaii (13-2, 97). Dukes profile is not looking as strong as usual, with not many quality wins (yet) and with another loss this week at Clemson, which caused a lot of spittle to be spewed by Coach K and temporarily dropped the Blue Devils out of protected seed territory. Duke needs C Amile Jefferson to get back in the lineup if it wants to make another deep run in March. We suspect that a lot of Big Dance entries would like to avoid Hawaii, which has emerged as a force under first-year HC Eran Ganot, almost beating Oklahoma at the Diamond Head Classic over Christmas. As NEW TGS COVER STORY. NFL DIVISION ROUND NOTEBOOK While Division Round games have historically been fertile territory for home teams and favorites (almost always one and the same), their dominance has not been especially pronounced recent years. Indeed, since the 2004 postseason, road dogs stand 27-18-1 against the number in these playoff games, including 3-1 last season. Remember some dynamics worth mentioning that are unique to this round. Since 1990, when the playoffs expanded from 10 teams to 12, all Division NEW TGS COVER STORY. NFL SEASON-END REVIEWS PART I 2400.jpg Miami (6-10). Owner Stephen Ross effectively undermined the season at the end of the preceding 2014 campaign when deciding to bring back overmatched HC Joe Philbin for a fourth year. After three ugly losses in four weeks, Philbin was canned. And while Miami rallied briefly after Dan Campbellrsquos promotion as interim HC, the only highlight past midseason was a third straight win over the Patriots at Sun Life Stadium on the final weekend, just a few days after GM Dennis Hickey was fired. Ross moved quickly to fill Hickeyrsquos post by promoting scouting director Chris TGS SPECIAL REPORT. LOOK AHEAD TO 2016 COLLEGE FB HOT SEAT Darrell Hazell, Purdue. Some Big Ten sources were wondering if Hazell would survive 2015 if the Boilermakers missed a bowl game for the third straight season on his watch. Not only did Purdue, miss, it didnt come close, regressing to 2-10, putting Hazell at a not-so-robust 6-30 in three years on the job at Ross-Ade Stadium. Failure to land a postseason slot in 2016 would likely prompt a revolt by whatever boosters are remaining in West Lafayette, so Hazell enters next season not only on one of the hottest seats, but also as one of the coaches most likely to walk the plank before the campaign completes NEW TGS HOOPS. COLLEGE HOOPS MID-MAJOR UPDATE ATLANTIC 10. Often the flagship league of the mid-major ranks, the A-10 appears to have several intriguing entries this term, though at the moment we only view Dayton (12-2) as a cant-miss NCAA Tourney invitee. The Flyers are probably not going to have to sweat out Selection Sunday as they did a year ago, especially after quality non-conference wins vs. Alabama, Iowa, Vanderbilt, and Arkansas. Theres enough heft in that collection of victims to offset a potentially-damaging non-league loss to Chattanooga (though the Mocs look to be the clear favorite in the SoCon), and no shame in NEW TGS HOOPS. COL HOOPS WEEKEND WINNERS AND LOSERS WINNER: SOUTH CAROLINA. The Gamecocks took a 12-0 SU record into January, and much skepticism that a forgiving slate had a lot to do with the spotless mark. Which still might be warranted, but the serious vetting for Carolina began on Saturday, and the Gamecocks passed with flying colors when pulling away from dangerous Memphis to score an 86-76 win. More upcoming tests await as SEC play commences, but for now SC looks like a Big Dance entry for HC Frank Martin, finally with proper pieces in place in his fourth year on the job at Columbia. The question with South TGS SPECIAL REPORT. TGS NFL WILDCARD NOTEBOOK The expansion of the pro football playoffs is one of the fascinating differences from our first year of publishing TGS in 1957 to the present. In the late lsquo50s, before there even was an American Football League, there were only twelve professional teams (six in each conference, the Western and Eastern) and one playoff game to decide the NFL title. Almost always those championship games were played before the end of December, too by comparison, the current 2015 regular TGS SPECIAL REPORT. BLACK MONDAY LOOMS IN NFL Mike Pettine, Cleveland. The Brownies entered the final weekend with a 3-17 mark over their last 20 games and with no indication that things are going to be improving anytime soon. Worse for Pettine is that his supposed defensive expertise has not translated to his team, which ranks near the bottom of NFL stats. Pettine has not been helped by the circus that seems to follow second-year Johnny Manziel, who has hardly looked like a franchise QB and now might have another issue to deal with (a new and apparently damning video during Christmas week) before the regular - TGS HOOPS. LATE DECEMBER BRACKETOLOGY UPDATE 4 Duke (9-2) vs. 13 Chattanooga (10-2). Duke has a lot of ground to cover before it can be rated alongside last years latest Coach K title winner. In the short-term that journey has become even more bumpy with 6-9 Amile Jefferson, the Blue Devils best interior defensive presence, temporarily out of action with a foot injury, and a return date unknown. His absence was felt in Saturdays loss vs. Utah and its 7-footer, Jakob Poeltl. By March, however, Duke could be a load if Jefferson is back in the fold and gangly 6-9 frosh Brandon Ingram lives up to the hype (which he has hinted at in the past month). The SoCon TGS HOOPS. THE GREAT LAKER 33-GAME STREAK IS IN JEOPARDY Inexorably . the Golden State Warriors are marching toward one of the most enduring records in American sports. After Fridays win at Boston, the defending champs had won their first 24 games of the 2015-16 season, already the greatest-ever break from the gate in NBA history. Given that the win streak expands even further over two seasons, there are a handful of different interpretations of the streak thru December 10. It could be either be at 28 straight if including the four wins at the conclusion of the 2014-15 regular season, or at 27 in a row if including the three straight wins to close out the NBA TGS SPECIAL REPORT. BOWL PREVIEW AND COACHING CAROUSEL The college football bowl system bounces along its merry way and remarkably continues to grow without any apparent public demand for it to do so. Two new bowl games have been added to the postseason mix in college football after the bowl lineup expanded by three games a year ago. Predictably, with bowls having added ten more slots since 2013, there are not going to be enough teams with winning, or non-losing, records to be invited to all of the contests, hence a handful of teams with 5-7 records will find themselves bowl participants within the next month And, given the recent bent TGS HOOPS SPECIAL REPORT. GUY LEWIS TRIBUTE AND AMERICAN UPDATE When former University of Houston HC Guy Lewis passed away last week at the age of 93, all sorts of memories began to cross our minds from that unforgettable season of 48 years ago. Thats because Lewis, and his Houston Cougars, briefly took over the national headlines in the late 60s while transforming a region that had previously viewed basketball as something to do between the football season and spring football. After Lewis and the Cougars burst upon the scene, however, basketball suddenly had its own wider berth in TGS SPECIAL REPORT. CHECKING IN ON NEW JERSEY Readers of THE GOLD SHEET can be excused for wondering what has happened with New Jerseys attempt to legalize sports wagering, which has been followed closely on these pages over the past couple of years. This fall, however, much of the media became sidetracked from the New Jersey storyline when focus shifted toward the fantasy sports marketplace, and we at TGS followed along with a three-part editorial devoted to that same topic earlier this football season. But while the New Jerset sports gaming storyline has been flying under the radar in recent months, rest assured it has BEST OF TGS HOOPS. PURDUE DEBUT TO REMEMBER amp BIG TEN UPDATE When debut games are mentioned, we canrsquot recall any quite as dramatic as the one in which Rick Mount played his first varsity contest on December 2, 1967 for Purdue. In fact, after over five decades of publishing, we dare say Mountrsquos first varsity game is one of the greatest and most memorable hoop classics we can recall. Making the night special almost 48 years ago was the fact that the Boilermakers would be hosting, guess who, top-ranked defending national champion UCLA, featuring none other than Lew Alcindor, then beginning his junior TGS SPECIAL REPORT. RIVALRY WEEK AND THE IRON BOWL Thanksgiving week is the closest link to the old late-November rivalry weeks that used to end every college football regular season with a bang. Until the conference shuffling that began in the 90s, many of the traditional rivalry games took place the weekend before Thanksgiving, with a handful held on the weekend immediately after Turkey Day. Often featured were annual showdowns such as Nebraska vs. Oklahoma from the old Big 8, and Texas vs. Texas AampM from the old Southwest Conference, storied rivalries now on hiatus since the TGS SPECIAL REPORT. OPENING A PANDORAS BOX AT MIZZOU--PART II There are plenty of still-moving pieces in the storyline involving the University of Missouri and the threatened boycott by its football team of the recent game against BYU. Some of those were addressed in the first installment of this piece that ran in the new TGS Football Issue No. 12, and will be revisited more at the end of this piece. Still, even those who have voiced disappointment at the Mizzou situation must acknowledge that the threatened football boycott played a large TGS SPECIAL REPORT. OPENING A PANDORAS BOX AT MIZZOU Six years ago, when doing research for book projects as well as feature stories that have appeared in past seasons on the pages of TGS Basketball . we were in Indianapolis to chat with Jerry Harkness, a former All-American hoopster and star performer on Loyola-Chicagos 1963 NCAA title winners. Harkness was a fascinating interview for reasons that went beyond basketball, especially for his up-close view of the turbulent 60s and exposure to the leaders of the civil rights movement, which in that era would operate its Chicago Freedom Movement TGS NFL NOTEBOOK. LIONS-PACKERS WEEK AND MEMORIES OF 62 Though the Lions and Packers battled for the NFC North crown at the end of last season, most of their matchups in recent years have have not been very memorable. And, frankly, current form indicates theres nothing to believe we are in store for anything extra special when they square off again Sunday afternoon at Lambeau Field, where Detroit has rather remarkably not won since George Bush was in the White House. thats George H. W. Bush in 1991 TGS HOOPS PREVIEW. COLLEGE HOOPS PRESEASON TOP 40 1-WICHITA STATE . Theyre b-a-a-a-c-k . Were talking about Shocker senior Gs Ron Baker and Fred VanVleet, holdovers from the 2013 Final Four team and having flirted with the NBA Draft last spring before deciding to come back for one more go at Koch Arena. As did top-tier HC Gregg Marshall, who continues to resist moves to bigger-name programs (Texas the latest high-profile suitor to be rejected). Baker, VanVleet, hard-nosed senior Evan Wessel, and Kansas transfer Connor Frankamp (eligible mid-December) gives Marshall arguably the top backcourt in the country, and the addition of Cleveland State TGS HOOPS. REMEMBERING A LEGEND: MEL DANIELS TRIBUTE The most recent shocker, however, came late last week when news that former great Indiana Pacers C Mel Daniels passed away suddenly at the age of 71. We will excuse modern-day hoops aficionados, and those of the ESPN generation, if they draw a blank on Daniels. But even those sorts are likely aware of the old ABA, and they ought to know that the league was more than Julius Erving and flying slam dunks and wild hairdos. There was a blue-collar side to the ABA exemplified by Daniels and his Pacers. And it really wasnrsquot Erving (who joined the ABA about TGS SPECIAL REPORT. FANTASY FACTS AND FICTION--PART THREE If looking for confirmation about Fantasy Football becoming a truly newsworthy topic, all one had to do was tune in to last weeks CNBC GOP Presidential Debate from Boulder, Colorado. Where, among other serious topics discussed, we found out that Jeb Bushs Fantasy FB team was undefeated thru seven weeks of action and featured Rob Gronkowski and Ryan Tannehill. We were also made aware that Chris Christie doesnt give a hill of beans for Fantasy FB, at least as part of the discussion in a presidential debate is concerned . TGS HOOPS NBA PREVIEW. 2015-16 NBA FUTURES TO WATCH It has started to dawn upon fans of the Chicago Bulls (49frac12) that their team might never be fully healthy with a collection of injury-prone key cogs such as Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah. The starters missed an average of more than 17 games last season, so we wonder if new HC Fred Hoiberg is going to ha ve the same issues with available bodies as did predecessor Tom Thibodeau in recent years. Still, we do not want to dismiss the Bulls, as Jimmy Butler progressed from defensive specialist to All-Star while Rose has struggled to TGS SPECIAL REPORT. FANTASY FACTS AND FICTION--PART TWO Well . we knew we were jumping into a hot topic last week with our part one of ldquoFantasy Facts and Fiction. rdquo But even Nostradamus might have had problems predicting the sudden tidal wave of fantasy coverage that has recently dominated the news cycle. How did the tectonic plates beneath the fantasy industry shift over the past week On Tuesday, U. S. Congressman Frank Pallone Jr. and Senator Bob Menendez, both New Jersey Democrats, argued for new safeguards after cheating allegations surfaced against a DraftKings employee. A day later TGS SPECIAL REPORT. FANTASY FACTS AND FICTION--PART ONE In the biography Knight . authored with the respected Bob Hammel, legendary basketball coach Bob Knight related a brief discussion he once had with President Gerald Ford shortly after The General had come under familiar criticism. Lamenting his fate with the press to the president, Ford reminded Knight that things could be worse. Bob, said President Ford, if you think the sports pages are rough, you ought to try the front pages. Fast-forward nearly forty years, and now the heretofore blissful fantasy sports marketplace is about to get hit with the same warning that Gerald Ford gave to Bob . TGS SPECIAL REPORT. TGS 2015 MLB PLAYOFF PREVIEW The Dodgers have home-field edge in the NLDS vs. the New York Mets (175) . the leagues surprise entry that capitalized upon the collapse of the East and the dysfunctions of the division-favorite Nats. Deadline additions Jose Uribe and especially Yoenis Cespedes added a very sharp edge to the Mets attack, though it will be up to a young rotation (Matt Harvey, Noah Syndergaard, Jacob de Grom, and perhaps rookie Steven Matz) to carry the Mets deep into the postseason in their first playoffs since 2006. when the Mets also eliminated the Dodgers in the NLDS. TGS SPECIAL REPORT. TGS NOTEBOOK: A TRIBUTE TO TAD We like to joke that jobs at TGS are much like the US Supreme Court. both are lifetime appointments. But that might not be wholly accurate. In the current lineup of Justices, Antonin Scalia is the longest-serving member, and his appointment to the Court commenced in September of 1986. Meanwhile, six of the full-time employees at TGS pre-date Scaliarsquos term in the Supreme Court, while among the other eight Justices, only Anthony TGS SPECIAL REPORT. BIG TEN ON THE FAULT LINES--PART II Three weeks ago, we spoke of Big Ten commissioner Jim Delanyrsquos statements earlier this year regarding a possible resurrection of long-ago eligibility rules that barred freshmen from competing on varsity teams. Within that story we outlined what was really on the mind of Delany and the conference. But that was not the only recent development involving the Big Ten. Such as the case with the recent August ruling from the NLRB (National Labor Relations Board) that dismissed an historic March 2014 decision by a regional NLRB director in Chicago who TGS SPECIAL REPORT. CLUMSY - GATE amp PATRIOTS PARANOIA With the NFL moving quickly toward its 100th anniversary in 2019, we find it amazing how the nationrsquos sports media can act with such collective indignation when presented with a story such as ESPNrsquos recent exposersquo on the lengths to which the Patriots might have been bending the rules in recent years. Judging by the reaction of some of the nationrsquos sportswriters, you would likely assume that such shenanigans began with Bill Belichickrsquos infamous ldquoSpy-gaterdquo episode in 2007, spilling into more-recent memory with this yearrsquos Tom Bradydeflated football controversy. TGS SPECIAL REPORT. NFL 2015 SEASON-WIN BEST BETS Thank goodness for the Houston Texans (8 12 wins) who enlivened an otherwise desultory NFL preseason as this summerrsquos spotlighted team on HBOrsquos Hard Knocks . with second-year HC Bill OrsquoBrien providing unexpected color with his salty language and quick wit. But OrsquoBrien, who earned his coaching spurs as Bill Belichickrsquos o. c. before keeping a distressed Penn State program afloat, already proved he knows what hersquos doing last season when stewarding the Texansrsquo 7-win improvement over 2013. Offseason roster changes hardly seem TGS 2015 PRO FOOTBALL PREVIEW. A LOOK AT THE AFC WEST DENVER. After four years of John Fox (and four straight AFC West titles), three of them with Peyton Manning, GM John Elway decided to make a change. The Broncsrsquo 43-8 clubbing at the hands of the previous Seahawks in the Super Bowl had plenty to do with his decision. But last seasonrsquos 24-13 home loss in the divisional round to Indianapolis made the decision easier. With a dwindling number of years left in the championship window for Manning, Elway chose to try for some new leadership and a new style. And, as it so often TGS 2015 PRO FOOTBALL PREVIEW. A LOOK AT THE NFC WEST SEATTLE. Preseason work has exposed a few more cracks in the foundation at Seattle, though nothing that HC Pete Carroll seems particularly worried about. One of the reasons the Hawks struggled and lost two of their first three exhibition games was an ankle injury suffered by backup QB, and usual preseason star . Tarvaris Jackson, forcing former Arena Leaguer RJ Archer to take a lot more snaps than expected. The offense, as could be expected, would suffer. Though in twelve offensive series in the first three games, Wilson and the starting unit did not manage a TD, with seven punts, four FGs, and a TGS SPECIAL REPORT. BIG TEN ON THE FAULT LINES--PART ONE As is often the case in the football offseason, gridiron-oriented news cycles get dominated by superficial issues. Patriots fans might not agree, but the Tom Brady ldquoDeflate-gaterdquo scandal (which will be addressed more in depth on these pages in a few weeks) would probably qualify as such. As would the countless storylines regarding fantasy football projections that seem to be dominating the web these days. (Wersquoll have some unique observations later this season on TGS 2015 PRO FOOTBALL PRVIEW. A LOOK AT THE AFC SOUTH Call it a ldquosilent dynasty, rdquo perhaps A look at recent history would suggest as much for the Indianapolis Colts (2014 SUR 13-6, PSR 13-6) . especially within the AFC South division in which they have resided since 2002. Fact---the Colts have reached double-digit wins every year save one since 2002, a feat exceeded by no other NFL team (even the Patriots, who last won in the single digits in lsquo02). The transition year of 2011 between the Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck eras (2011 was the season missed in entirety by Manning, recovering from neck surgery), when Indy collapsed to 2-14 TGS 2015 PRO FOOTBALL PREVIEW. A LOOK AT THE NFC SOUTH NEW ORLEANS. After missing the playoffs for the first time in five years, the Saints decided to make some major changes while the remarkable Brees (36 years old, virtually 5000 YP each of the last four years) still has a couple of g ood years left. To help steady last yearrsquos shaky pass protection, GM Mickey Loomis dealt extra-dimension (but sore-shouldered and very expensive) TE Jimmy Graham to Seattle for C Max Unger. The teamrsquos No. 1 draft pick was spent on 6-7, 320 OT Andrus Peat from Stanford. To help restore a missing edge to the TGS 2015 PRO FOOTBALL PREVIEW. A LOOK AT THE AFC NORTH Arguably . since HC John Harbaugh was hired in 2008, no AFC team (even New England) has accomplished more than the Baltimore Ravens (2014 SUR 11-7, PSR10-8, UU 9-9) . Harbaughrsquos squads have reached the playoffs in six of seven seasons (the same as Bill Belichickrsquos team), won a Super Bowl, and also won at least one elimination game in every year they qualified for the postseason. A year ago, that was as a wild card, losing out to Pittsburgh for the regular-season North crown and a half-game behind Cincinnati for TGS 2015 PRO FOOTBALL PREVIEW. A LOOK AT THE NFC NORTH GREEN BAY. The Packers have found a formula for success that works. for them. For nearly three decades, Green Bay has been strong at QB and WR, competent at RB, and usually at least serviceable on defense. The team is mostly ldquohome grown, rdquo with the majority of players on the team being mostly Packers only. The big money goes to stars such as QB Aaron Rodgers (now in his tenth year), WRs Jordy Nelson amp Randall Cobb, and DEOLBILB Clay Matthews. The G. B. front office, ably directed by Ted Thompson, signs few veteran free agents, instead preferring to draft and groom its own young TGS 2015 PRO FOOTBALL PREVIEW. A LOOK AT THE AFC EAST NEW ENGLAND. Wersquoll stick with our annual prediction of New England capturing the AFC East, which the Pats have done for the last six years, and 11 of the last 12 (the only exception being 2008, when Brady sustained a torn ACL in the season opener). Under thorough, all-business, yet flexible and creative HC Bill Belichick, the Patriots have otherwise been able to overcome all obstacles to rule over their division. And those obstacles include last Sept. 29s 41-14 demolition by the Chiefs in Kansas City, after which, for the next several days, sportswriters and talking heads throughout the media were TGS 2015 PRO FOOTBALL PREVIEW. A LOOK AT THE NFC EAST We know about the four-year cycles in the Olympics, World Cup, and US presidential elections. We also know about the four-year cycle as it relates to the New York Giants (2014 SUR 6-10. PSR 7-9, OU 10-6) . who won the Super, quite unexpectedly, in both the 2007 and 2011 seasons. The similarities between those title runs were almost eerie. Can the four-year cycle repeat in 2015 with the G-Men There remain a handful of pillars from both of those title campaigns, including HC Tom Coughlin and QB Eli Manning. Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo TGS 2015 COLLEGE FB PREVIEW. A LOOK AT THE GOLD SHEETS TOP 40 1-OHIO STATE. As the great Kentucky play-by-play voice Cawood Ledford liked to say, ldquoWrite it down. rdquo For if the Buckeyes are the same team in 2015 that we saw for the final three games from last season, they will repeat as FBS champion. Giving hope to the masses, however, is that OSU did not flash that form for much of 2014 and was vulnerable enough at different times of the campaign to actually lose to a modest Virginia Tech and survive narrow escapes at Penn State and Minnesota. Still, hard to find any weak spots, and even TGS 2015 COLLEGE FB PREVIEW. A LOOK AT THE MAC--PART II NORTHERN ILLINOIS. NIU HC Rod Carey, who like o. c. Bob Cole and d. c. Jay Niemann, arrived in DeKalb when Doeren took over in 2011, returns 15 starters and has done a good job of plugging in new parts the last two seasons. In 2013 and 2014, the team had 14 and 12 returning regulars and went 23-5. This yearrsquos offense has jr. QB Drew Hare back for his second season as the regular triggerman. Hare threw for 2322 yds. and had an 18-2 TD-int. count. Harersquos 2 interceptions (326 throws ) were the fewest among FBS QBs that qualified for the passing efficiency title won by Oregonrsquos Marcus TGS 2015 COLLEGE FB PREVIEW. A LOOK AT THE MAC--PART I AKRON. Although Terry Bowden is just 11-25 SU in his first three seasons at Akron, therersquos no doubt that the team is on track to return to the bowl picture soon, perhaps this season. Bowden inherited a team that was 5-31 from 2009-2011, and he definitely had a plan. Install a first-tier coaching staff, recruit Ohio and Florida with vigor, and fill in the edges by convincing athletes committed to bigger programs who werenrsquot going to be starters to come and play at Akron. Itrsquos working TGS BIG 12 RETROSPECTIVE. THE REAL GAME THAT CHANGED THE GAME When the subject of ldquomost importantrdquo college games will arise, there are rarely any shortage of candidates for the honor. Regarding college basketball, and with apologies to shallow sorts such as Seth Davis, who wrote an entire book to place the 1979 Michigan State-Indiana State NCAA title game in nomination, we have addressed the question on the pages of TGS Basketball in the past, and have always opted for the epic 1968 UCLA-Houston game at the Astrodome as the unquestioned TGS ATLANTIC COAST RETROSPECTIVE. THE GAMECOCKS SAY ADIOS TO THE ACC At its inception, the ACC was a tidy regional alliance spawned mostly by a defection from the old version of the Southern Conference (a league that still exists today), which banned its members from participating in bowl games. With the postseason football ban as a motivator, seven schools (Duke, North Carolina, NC State, Wake Forest, Maryland, Clemson, and South Carolina) withdrew from the SoCon on May 8, 1953, and created the ACC, making the second conference formed by schools collectively withdrawing from the SoCon after the SEC had formed after doing the same in 1932. By TGS 2015 COLLEGE FB PREVIEW. A LOOK AT THE SUN BELT APP STATE. Mark down App State as team on the ascent. In their first year in the Sun Belt Conference after 44 in the Southern Conference, the former FCS Mountaineers got off to a a slow start (1-5 overall 0-2 in league play), but enjoyed a fast finish (6-0). App State (6-2 in the conference) ended third in the Sun Belt, behind only Georgia Southern (8-0) and Louisiana (7-1). Not to be overlooked, however, was that HC Scott Satterfield (former App State QB, now in his third year) made an ldquoinvestmentrdquo in 2014, filling his lineup with sophs and frosh TGS 2015 COLLEGE FB PREVIEW. A LOOK AT THE INDEPENDENTS NOTRE DAME. This yearrsquos defense should be a formidable group. Star jr. LB Jaylon Smith (team-high 112 tackles LY) will likely go to the NFL if he stays healthy and has similar production in 2015. Jr. S Max Redfield was 2nd with 68 stops, and he showed in spring that hersquos ready to take another step forward and correct some of the mistakes he was making last season, thanks in part to new DB coach Todd Lyght. The front four is intact after giving up 4.2 ypc, not bad considering that injuries to jr. NT Jarron Jones and sr. LB Joe Schmidt played a part in the team giving up TGS 2015 COLLEGE FB PREVIEW. A LOOK AT CONFERENCE USA--PART II WKU. The collective groan you might have heard in the distance in the offseason was probably opposing C-USA coaches when hearing the news that record-setting Top QB Brandon Doughty would be granted a sixth year of eligibility by the NCAA and would return for one more go this fall. Combined with punishing 235-lb. RB Leon Allen, no QB-RB duo in NCAA history matched their staggering numbers from last seasnm. All Doughty did was lead the nationrsquos passes with 4830 yards thru the air, and in conjunction with Allenrsquos 1542 YR gave TGS 2015 COLLEGE FB PREVIEW. A LOOK AT CONFERENCE USA--PART I Louisiana Tech. There are also some established supporting weapons on hand from last yearrsquos team that would score a whopping 37.4 ppg (ranking 13th), most notably sr. RB Kenneth Dixon, a spectacular scoring machine in his Bulldog career with a whopping 61 TDs, with 28 of those a year ago when gaining 1299 YR and catching another 30 passes. With Dixon keeping defenses honest out of Tech single-back sets, Driskel also has plenty of seasoned receivers on hand, including sure-handed Trent Taylor (64 catches a year ago), former LSU TGS 2015 COLLEGE FB PREVIEW. A LOOK AT THE BIG 12 TCU. With only five starters back on defense this season, TCU might give up a few more points than last yearrsquos 19 per game (8th in the nation). However, by the end of 2014, HC Gary Patterson could not believe how much his offense had improved. Remember, many last August expected AampM transfer QB Matt Joeckel to win the starting QB job because Patterson had decided to roll the dice on offense, bringing in Sonny Cumbie from Texas Tech and Doug Meachem from Houston to install the ldquoAir Frogrdquo uptempo spread. But then-junior Trevone Boykin--who twice previously had been moved to WR--took hold of the starting QB spot in the TGS 2015 COLLEGE FB PREVIEW. A LOOK AT THE ATLANTIC COAST--PART II Clemson. Regardless, the Tigers have the trigger-man they want for the attack in soph QB Deshaun Watson, who burst upon the scene like gangbusters a year ago but would unfortunately miss five full games with a pair of injuries (broken finger and torn ACL). Assuming he can stay in one piece this fall, Clemson might have the most dynamic force in the ACC after Watson shined brightly as a frosh, tossing for 1466 yards and 14 TDP with just 2 picks in essentially just four full games, which included an eye-opening 435-yard, 6 TDP effort vs. a stunned North Carolina. Watson has targets, too, with WRs Mike Williams TGS 2015 COLLEGE FB PREVIEW. A LOOK AT THE ATLANTIC COAST-PART I Georgia Tech. Having the proper option pilot in Justin Thomas was the key to last yearrsquos offensive renaissance that produced a whopping 37.9 ppg (ranked 11th nationally). Thomas, perhaps the fastest-ever QB in a Johnson offense, ignited the option by rushing for over 1000 yards while proving a dangerous pass threat as well, tossing for 18 TD passes (almost Dan Marino-like for a Johnson ldquoOrdquo) last fall. Now a junior, Thomas has generated some peripheral Heisman mention entering the fall, though there is a bit of concern regarding a supporting staff that lost some established firepower to graduation after the Orange Bowl win. TGS SEC RETROSPECTIVE. PUNT BAMA PUNT AND THE 72 AUBURN AMAZINS Get ready for a new football movie. Although, unless yoursquore a longtime SEC fan, and an Auburn diehard at that, the subject matter might come as a surprise. Wersquore not talking about the Bo Jackson years, Cam Newton, or the unexpected mad dash to the 2013 BCS title game by Gus Malzahnrsquos first Tiger team, either. Rather, itrsquos time to get reacquainted with perhaps the most unlikely success story we can ever recall in our near six decades of publishing TGS . T he new movie, still in its production phase TGS 2015 COLLEGE FB PREVIEW. A LOOK AT THE SEC--PART II GEORGIA. As usual, UGArsquos 15th-year mentor Mark Richt owns the overall talent level to make a run at the SEC title and the College Football Playoff in 2015. The Bulldogs return a solid nucleus on both sides of the ball, with 12 starters back, plus both kickers. But itrsquos an unknown at QB, where for the first time in nearly a decade UGA entered the summer without knowing who the starter would be. The defense, which seriously improved under second-year coordinator Jeremy Pruitt last season, should continue its upward trend, aided by another strong recruiting class. To wit: TGS 2015 COLLEGE FB PREVIEW. A LOOK AT THE SEC--PART I ALABAMA. Though Alabama has signed th e nationrsquos No. 1 recruiting class for the fifth straight season and remains as our team to beat in the loaded West Division, it shapes up as a much tighter race in 2015. The Tide, which is considered to be playing one of the nationrsquos toughest schedules, has some serious reloading on the offensive side. And to make matters worse, four of Bamarsquos opponents will enjoy the benefit of a bye week prior to their clash with the defending SEC champs, including three within the TGS BIG TEN RETROSPECTIVE. WHEN THE BUCKEYES BUCKED THE ROSE BOWL Imagine . a Big Ten school, on the cusp of winning the national championship, declining an invitation to the Rose Bowl Then, imagine that school being . Ohio State We know, the hordes of modern-day Buckeye backers who might not even know of Matt Snell or Paul Warfield, or even Woody Hayes, could probably not comprehend. Especially since there is no more football-crazed and mesmerized locale outside of the SEC than Columbus. But during our publishing history at TGS, which dates back to 1957, the above scenario actually occurred. as unbelievable as it sounds today. TGS 2015 COLLEGE FB PREVIEW. A LOOK AT THE BIG TEN--PART I OHIO STATE. No two ways about it, Urban Meyerrsquos defending national champs are loaded. The Buckeyes have to be considered the consensus No. 1 to start the season, as they return 14 starters, both kickers, are riding a 13-game winning streak, and will be reinforced by a recruiting program that has gone through the roof under Meyerrsquos guidance. Letrsquos start with a QB situation that could be the most talented threesome in history if all three regain full health. Both Braxton Miller (now likwly to play at WR) and J. T. Barrett were held out of spring contact recovering from TGS 2015 COLLEGE FB PREVIEW. A LOOK AT THE BIG TEN--PART II WISCONSIN. Paul Chryst is the newold face in Madison. Chryst takes over as HC for Gary Andersen, who bolted for Oregon State last December after going 19-7 in two seasons at Wisconsin. Chryst is a native of Madison and played QB for the Badgers from 1986-88. He served as co-offensive coordinator in Barry Alvarezrsquo last season as head coach in Madison and then was Brett Bielemarsquos o. c. from 2006-11 before spending the last 3 seasons as head coach at Pitt. Have to expect the ldquonewrdquo Badgers to look a lot like the old Badgers. That means running the ball brutally, effectively, and relentlessly and playing rock lsquoem, sock lsquoem TGS AMERICAN RETROSPECTIVE. NIPPERT MEMORIES AND THE CINCY COMET Rest easy, college football historians, Cincinnati is going to be re-opening Nippert Stadium this fall. After nearly 100 million worth of renovations, the Bearcats return to their traditional home surroundings this fall after spending a season on the riverfront at the NFL Bengalsrsquo Paul Brown Stadium. Not long ago, Nippertrsquos future was in some doubt, as some influential Cincy alums were pushing the school to emulate the University of Pittsburgh, which moved to the NFL Steelersrsquo Heinz Field over a decade ago after its longtime on-campus Pitt Stadium was demolished to make room for the TGS 2015 COLLEGE FOOTBALL PREVIEW. A LOOK AT THE AMERICAN--PART I CINCINNATI-- LYrsquos high-octane aerial assault attack (34.0 ppg) should continue to shine brightly in 2015. Strong-armed 6-4 jr. QB Gunner Kiel (3,254 YP LY), who began his career at Notre Dame, finished with 31 TD passes to tie the schoolrsquos single-season record. The Bearcats return their top seven receivers, led by speedy 5-9 Shaq Washington, who had 66 catches and 4 TDs. Mekale McKay amp Chris Moore (8 TD catches apiece LY) are the deep threats in UCrsquos wide-open, four-WR offense. LYrsquos inconsistent ground assault (only 72nd nationally) should be steadier this campaign with the TGS 2015 COLLEGE FOOTBALL PREVIEW. A LOOK AT THE AMERICAN--PART II HOUSTON. The Tom Herman Era begins in Houston after the somewhat surprising firing of third-year HC Tony Levine following LYrsquos 8-5 campaign. Highly-respected Herman, who brings credibility after winning the national title as the offensive coordinator at Ohio State in 2014, has spent the first several months on the job instilling a toughness that had been lacking the past couple years under mild-mannered Levine. And it appears that the players were ready for a change in the culture, according to Herman, who says, ldquoThe really neat thing that Irsquove found is there really wasnrsquot a lot of pushback from TGS PAC-12 RETROSPECTIVE. THUNDER CHICKENS ON THE FARM M odern - day football fans and the new-wave ESPN crowd who have become used to the current David Shaw corporate model at Stanford probably have no idea what a colorful and personality-rich football history exists on The Farm. Indeed, there is a long and illustrious gridiron background in Palo Alto aside from John Elway and the band and being on the wrong end of The Play at the end of the 1982 Cal game (Stanford folk dont like to talk about that game, so we wont ing it up again). The football tradition on The Farm is a rich one, much of it long before Elway TGS 2015 COLLEGE FOOTBALL PREVIEW. A LOOK AT THE PACIFIC 12-PART II ARIZONA STATE. Now that Arizona State has achieved double-digit victories two straight years (10-4 and 10-3), third-year coach Todd Graham is thinking of the next upward steps for his program. Among those are to become more gnarly road warriors and thus a factor on the national scene. In the last two seasons, Grahamrsquos Sun Devils are 12-2 SU in Tempe (one loss to Stanford in the 2013 Pac-12 title game the other loss to UCLA last season when starting QB Taylor Kelly was out with a foot injury). Over those same two years, ASU is only 8-5 SU away from home (5-8 vs. the spread). If the Sun Devils are TGS 2015 COLLEGE FOOTBALL PREVIEW. A LOOK AT THE PACIFIC 12-PART I STANFORD might have a different look to it this season than the recent rugged Cardinal outfits that have produced victory totals of 12, 11, 12, 11 in the four previous seasons before last yearrsquos 8-5. In fact, even with 2014s season-closing routs of Cal, UCLA and Maryland, it was clear such a change was underway. With more of it likely to come in 2015. Evidence of the transition from a physically-dominating power bunch was apparent last season, when the Cardinal lost to every high-quality team they faced, except to UCLA in its regular-season finale (after the Bruins had enjoyed a TGS MOUNTAIN WEST RETROSPECTIVE. THE DAYS OF AIR CORYELL AT SDSU As we have done the past two years, along with our summer College FB conference previews, well be providing corresponding retrospective pieces on all of the leagues as we honor the 59th publishing season of TGS . set to commence this fall Preceding our upcoming Mountain West 2015 preview is a look back to long-ago Air Coryell days at San Diego State. Conference previews begin in later June When D on Coryell arrived at SDSU, the Aztecs had won just seven games in the previous four seasons. But SDSU would